He Who Walks Between the Midday Sun and Midnight Moon
by Airaie
Summary: Sōta Higurashi was worried, and for good reason. He would be 15 next week and considering what happened to Kagome on her 15th... All well, with all of the Kami in his family it shouldn't be too bad… even if they all seem preoccupied with something. Maybe it has to do with all of those nasty demon world insects flying around the suburbs possessing people. Book 2 of Dekuyume
1. The Prologue: The Never Ending Paperwork

From here on out: If you see anything familiar in here, then it probably isn't mine, because if it was mine, then it would have gone like this instead, now wouldn't it? Also, I apologize. I read a lot and don't necessarily remember where all of my inspirations come from, so if you write, thank you for feeding my addiction for that nebulous intoxicating phrase, _What if?.._

The Prologue: The Never Ending Paperwork

Book 2 of Dekuyume

Koenma prince of _The Spirit World_ stared in awe at the document before him. With trembling fingers he ghosted his delicate fingertips across the dry ink stamp. His watery eyes traveled around his blissfully empty office, devoid of a single stack of paperwork, aside from the last dolly laden with documents ready to be sent down to the Department of Records. _He was done… it had taken him_ _centuries_ _but he was finally done with all of the paperwork that had exponentially multiplied during the_ _ **third**_ _Shikon no Tama fiasco._

He hops out of his nice chair and toddles over to the dolly, filing the last bit of paperwork in the cardboard filing box. With an austere nod to his personal assistant ogre George, he watches as the dolly is collected and toted out of his office. Once more he glances around the room before leaving, passing the cleaning crew on the way. _He was going to get some sleep… The time discrepancy between the human world and The Spirit World was great enough that he should have enough time to rest before he absolutely had to get back to work, judging souls and placing them in their afterlives._

 _Hopefully the yōkai who were living in the annexed portion of The Spirit World, commonly referred to as the makai, would all behave for a while so he could relax before the next batch of trouble sprung up. There was something that was going to be happening soon, but he was too tired to remember what._ Reaching his bedroom he collapses face first into the mattress without bothering to remove any of his clothing or even his shoes. _Doesn't matter now. He would think about it in the morning._

The little kami slept for three days before finally rousing, performing some much needed personal hygiene, and getting back to his office. _Oh myself. I feel a thousand orders of magnitude better._ He smiles when he enters his office, there's only a small stack of paperwork waiting his attention on the corner of his desk, and the whole room has been polished to a shine.

With a huff of irritation he climbs into his office chair. _Why was it that he couldn't have a throne in here again? Surely some of the more annoying souls would take him more seriously, toddler shaped or not, if he had a nicely ostentatious throne behind this desk._ Koenma's eyes widen as a memory strikes him, and he quickly checks the date in the human world. With a grin he pulls out some forms from his desk filling them out while chuckling under his breath at the memories. Finishing the forms in record time, he slides them into another drawer in his desk for safekeeping before starting on the small backlog of paperwork.

Just as he finishes there is a tap on his office door and a neatly pressed ogre in a pure white loincloth enters hesitantly. "Koenma-sama, We have a bit of a problem…" the painfully familiar words strike a chord. _Is… Is that the same ogre that kept coming to me with bad news during the Shikon fiasco?_ He stared intently at the ogre trembling in his doorway. _It was a little difficult to tell, but it probably was… and with all of the paperwork he had been buried under he never did get around to seeing if the poor fool was being hazed…_

He shakes his head, "Well. What is it?" The ogre shuffled forward to hand the primary operator of _The Spirit World_ a manila folder, "There was an incident in the human world. A human managed to surprise the Death: Timing and Placement Committee, so now we have a soul and no place to put it in our afterlife. We've already received several calls from interested Kami in acquiring the soul, we just need you to make a decision on who we will be trading him to."

Koenma looks down at the file, opening it to the first page, smiling at the profile picture inside. _Looks like he was right. It would be good to see him again, not that the boy would remember him. Time travel was such a messy business like that..._ He shakes his head in exasperation, opening one of the drawers in his desk, pulling out paperwork he had prepared just that morning. _See… He did learn how to make the system work for him… eventually… Now if only he could get everything digitalized before_ _The Division Proclamation_ _was revoked._ He asks, "I apologize, but I do not remember your name." He meets the ogre's eyes steadily and is surprised when the ogre doesn't even flinch. "However, I have noticed that you seem to be the only one bringing me bad news. Tell me, are you being forced to do this?"

The ogre rapidly shakes his head no, "No Sir… I… well, my unofficial title is Bad News Ogre. You see, I really need this job, but I… I'm blind. It actually works out pretty well, my assigned workload is spread out between everyone in the Soul Camera Monitoring Department, and whenever we have urgent bad news to deliver, I do it. It's actually easier being blind because that means I can't see how angry you are about the news I bring, so I can actually spit out the words instead of cowering in terror like the others. I do the same thing when we have to deliver bad news to Enma-Daiō."

The ogre smiles, "Thank you for noticing though. I really appreciate it." With a bow, the ogre leaves the room and a flabbergasted Koenma behind. With a sigh and a shake of his head, the toddler sized kami sucks on his pacifier, pumping excess magic into it before reaching out to press a button on his desk. The Communication link to his Secretarial Department opens. "Summon Boton-chan to my office, and have George come up here to collect Requisitions paperwork for a Spirit Egg."

Leaning back in his chair, he pulls the manila folder closer, going over the information inside to make sure that nothing had changed… _again._ Finding everything in order, he smiles.

 _Seems we will be meeting again… Yusuke Urameshi._


	2. Chapter 1: Glass Walls

Chapter1: Glass Walls

Sōta was deep in thought, not that it was apparent from the way he was bouncing a soccer ball with his feet and knees. He was a very special 14 year old. Not only was he related to several kami, but he was blessed to live on a shrine dedicated to his father. The others domain ships were all there as well of course, they had to be because trapped between _The Well of Time, The Colloquium of Souls, The Sacred Tree,_ and _The Little Mountain_ was the Higurashi Sanctuary.

Shielded from the eyes of the other kami by an over-clocked spell for hiding things, one that had been used to hide Naraku's palace from the world over 500 years ago, the sanctuary served as a place where humans, yōkai and hanyō could live in peace with each other, completely flying in the face of The Division Proclamation. It was a secret, but even if someone found out, there wasn't anything anyone could do about it, because the five domains held the sanctuary on the immortal plain, and the proclamation only demanded that no human lived in the makai, and that no yōkai lived in the human world.

Of course that meant that the Higurashi had to either hide what they were or remain inside the sanctuary, because having yōkai blood outside the barrier protecting the shrine, meant that you were a fugitive and liable to get deported to the makai, especially if you were strong enough that even humans without any spiritual sensitivity could see you for what you were. That's why he never said anything to the appropriate authorities about his best friend. _Because Kurama-san was a kitsune spirit that had chosen to take a chance with tangential reincarnation over death at the hands of those who hunted him. He had curled up his soul into a tiny ball and inserted it into a pregnant human woman, to avoid the dangers of an-harmonic synchronicity inherent in mixing different breeds of yōkai. But in order for a fetus to form, there had to be spiritual mass there already, either in the form of a reincarnated soul, or from soul fragments from the two donating parents. It meant that he gained more soul mass, a necessary evil due to the extreme nature of his injuries._

His foot misses the ball, and he chases after it. Leaving it on the ground, he begins to do some footwork in the courtyard before the sacred tree that served as the physical placeholder for his father's domain. _He didn't know much more than that, but he figured that some intense emotional growth had to have happened for the kitsune to think of his human mother the way he did now. It was too bad that she had been sick for so long. Hopefully the reason Kurama-san had been out of school for the week was good news, and not bad._ Kicking the ball up into his hands and heading into the house Sōta considers the merits of collecting the ingredients for a kitsune offering from the kitchen and paying Kurama a visit.

In the end there wasn't much of a decision, there was a note on the container of Inari-zushi in the fridge telling him to take it over to Kurama before the weekend. Collecting the rest of the ingredients in a basket takes just a few moments, and the subway makes his trip to Kurama's house pass by in the blink of an eye. Luckily the kitsune is at home, it would have been embarrassing to get all the way there only for Kurama to not be home. _It had happened before, in which case he always left the offering in the shade of some flowers that grew next to the side of the house. The kitsune's affinity for plants meant that they would watch over the offering and make sure that he knew about it when he passed by again._

Sōta smiles at Kurama, holding up the basket for his inspection as he opens the door. Kurama's eyes glitter as he takes the basket with a demure thanks, before inviting the human inside. _It was a guilty pleasure of his, these offerings that Sōta-kun brought to him on an irregular basis, and one that he was having trouble honoring. The boy didn't seem to want for anything, so the simplest ways of paying back the implied debt were out. Between his mothers kindness, and Sōta-kun's claim that friendship was enough of a reward, was it any wonder that he found such joy in this façade of human existence? He even went so far as to think of himself as Minamino Kurama, taking the family name of his human parents, even if he couldn't quite seem to make himself part with his yōkai name._

Settling in Kurama's living room while the redhead gets them something to drink, Sōta asks about his mother and the reason for his absence. Kurama grins wryly, "She has experienced a miraculous recovery, and wants to visit the shrine this weekend." He easily reads the amused suspicion on the boys face, and can hear the teasing tone in his voice easily when he asks, "Dare I ask what happened?"

Kurama smiles enigmatically, "No, probably not." _The boy may be aware enough of the supernatural as the son of a shrine family, but there was no way that he was going to tell his friend that he had used an object that demanded the wisher's life in exchange for granting a wish. Or that, had it not been for a boy so green to the supernatural world that he had to use a device to help him pull out his spiritual energy enough to generate an attack, he would have paid that price. It was embarrassing, the boy could only use that attack three times in a day before collapsing._ Kurama shakes his head at the folly of going after _Hiei,_ of all people, while that weak.

Sōta drinks his water, smirking behind his glass while the kitsune's eyes close in delight as he munches on the Inari-zushi. "Do you want the homework I collected for you while you were out?" Kurama nods and Sōta digs into his backpack, hunting down the folder that he placed all of the assignments into. Sōta explains the particulars of each assignment after Kurama finishes his tasty treat, and as Kurama walks him to the door, Sōta considers something he should probably mention now… rather than later. "My 15th birthday is in a few weeks."

Kurama smiles, "Oh? Will you be having a party?" Sōta shakes his head, before looking away, blushing. Kurama chuckles under his breath, _it was one of his greatest sources of amusement, how quickly this boy could go from responsible comrade to shy teenager._ Sōta shuffles his feet before sighing and looking the amused kitsune in his emerald green eyes. Kurama's spine tingles. _And it was always such a surprise, when the boy went from average human to keeper of secrets, divulging hidden knowledge._ In a tone of utmost seriousness Sōta warns Kurama to be vigilant on the day of his birthday. He says nothing more, but a single parting comment Kurama didn't think that Sōta meant for him to hear.

"Considering what happened on Kagome-neechan's birthday, I'm expecting all hell to break loose on mine."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was the weekend, and Minamino Shiori was glad to be out of the hospital, especially on such a beautiful day. _My, but there were a lot of steps leading up to the shrine._ _Thank goodness for Suichi, she would never have been able to make it on her own._ _But it was very important that she come._ Performing the ritual cleansing, she moves to the giant tree sacred to the shrine and gives her thanks. _After all, the doctors claimed that her recovery was miraculous, and who but the kami were responsible for the dispensation of miracles? She didn't even want to think about what would have happened to her precious son had she died._

Kurama remembers the first time he had visited the shrine after becoming Sōta's friend. He had only just managed to get enough of his strength back, that it would have been safe for him to use the fox tail lilies he had kept a bit of his yoko magic in. In honor of the human woman he had come to adore, he had used the magic intended for his Becoming, to simply spark the rebirth of his skills and permanently bind the human soul fragments to his own. _And oh, but it had been a shock, to see such a tiny shrine surrounded by a barrier most temples could only dream of having._

He bows politely to Kagome, dressed in miko garb, as she tends to the shrine. The blue eyed, twenty year old college student bows politely back with a wide infectious grin and returns to sweeping. He catches sight of a brown tail disappearing into the trees surrounding the shrine and with a glance at his preoccupied mother, follows after. _It had been another surprise, one he had been too caught up in consideration of the barrier to notice. It had been embarrassing, to be caught so flat footed, but in his defense, the barrier was quite an impressive bit of spell work. It was an unbreakable glass wall; though, not an unbeatable one._

 _He had broken one before, for his final exam at the kitsune academy three millennia ago. It had been rather simple in the end. All you really had to do was enter the barrier, and ask for help with something so outrageous that while it was possible for the denizens to do, they simply refused to try. He had enjoyed the efforts of the miko who had gone through so many of the twisted things his mind could come up with, and had laughed riotously when she had finally lost her temper and denied him aid. He had been even more joyous as she had broken down in tears, realizing what she had done._

 _It shamed him now, the poor woman had tried so hard, only to lose everything in the end, even her dignity. It had gotten him the highest ever final score until 2.5 millennia ago when a young kitsune yōkai named Higurashi Shippō outdid him by a single point. Unfortunately the division of the humans and yōkai happened shortly after, and as there were no tales of the kit's exploits in the makai, they were forced to come to the conclusion that he had died an ignoble death as a human._

Kurama tilts his head in greeting as the figure he had pursued into the trees, steps out from behind one, coming to lean against the rough bark of another. _They had been wrong._ Shippō grins cheekily at his idol, and his sisters declared intended mate, "Hey there #2." Kurama huffs in exasperation, "I do wish you would stop calling me that." Shippō only grins in response, and Kurama can only imagine the life that the other kitsune had lived. _From a child that had traveled with the group that had defeated Naraku and undone the Shikon no Tama curse, to a guardian of the shrine built to the two miko that had done it, the young kitsune had seen quite a bit._

Shippō's smile slowly washes away from his face, raising chills on Kurama's skin. _It was always a bad sign, when a kitsune stopped smiling._ Shippō plucks a leaf from the tree he is leaning against and twirls it around his thumb as he idly comments, "You know, it was fairly boring at first; being a guardian spirit for this shrine. It's only in the past 50 years or so, when out of love for the human woman who singlehandedly stopped his flickering; the Kami for the shrine took the form of a human man. It got even more interesting when he took her as his wife and had three children."

Kurama's breath catches in his throat, and Sōta's previous warning flashes through his brain. _Suddenly the words took on a whole new meaning, and he was really going to have to sit down with the boy and have a conversation about what kind of secrets were worth keeping from a trusted friend._ "So then Sōta-kun…" Shippō nods, "Yeah and his quest is coming up soon, so you should either prepare to land smack dab in the middle of a steamy hot mess, or distance yourself." Kurama's eyes are razor sharp emeralds as he regards the fire and illusion kitsune yōkai before him. "Does he have other watchers?" Shippō smiles wickedly at him, "You wouldn't believe how well that boy is protected. So don't feel obligated on our account."

Shippō's smile turns soft and wistful, "Doesn't mean that it wouldn't be better with a friend though. I don't know how bad the whole mess with Naraku would have been if Kagome-neechan had to deal with him alone." Kurama smiles, hiding the rapidly turning wheels in his brain, the dozens of plans contrived only to be disregarded, and a sneaking suspicion that he was going to wind up having to introduce Sōta to Yusuke.

Kurama tilts his head to the side, smirking as he adds a bit of his magic to the leaf in Shippō's hand, making the edges razor sharp. The edge cuts the others hand and Shippō glares at him mildly, dropping the leaf to tuck his injured finger in his mouth. "I remember hearing fantastical stories about Naraku's sorcery. Were any of them true?" Shippō snorts, "Naraku was lazy. If he had spent half as much time practicing his magic as he did plotting, even with all of us working together, he would have been unstoppable _without_ the Shikon no Tama."

Shippō grins mischievously, disappearing into the forest with a swishing tail that makes Kurama long for his own. The fire kitsune's voice echoes through the trees in his wake, "Of course since anything he could do _she_ could do better… it wouldn't have really mattered in the end."


	3. Chapter 2: A Sacred Duty

Chapter 2: A Sacred Duty

Higurashi Dekuyume sat at her favorite spot in the Higurashi Sanctuary. To be fair, as the keystone for the barrier, she could not leave, at least not physically. Between the fact that she was a kami who used her body as her domain ship, the fact that as an adsorption Dai-yōkai she had a pocket dimension where she could store all her extra mass, the time discrepancy she could invoke, and all the magic she had learned… _It was easy enough, to travel the celestial ocean from the comfort of the sanctuary._

Her tea, the warmth of the sun on her daisy decorated kimono, and the gentle caress of the cherry blossom flowers that fell from the perpetually blooming tree above her, did little to soothe her irritation at the moment. She sighs deeply, causing the flower petals to move away from the castaway bottle sitting on the kotatsu before her.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kiyoshi stood upon the seal array that would supply the extra power needed to send Botan and the three castaway bottles into the distant past via _The Well of Time_. Dekuyume no kami stood there watching intently, worried, but full of faith. He smiles tiredly at his first daughter, "Have faith Deku-chan. Protecting ones family is a fathers sacred duty." Dekuyume smiles, "And saving you will be mine." He looks startled for a moment, flickering madly in and out of being with increasing frequency, the longer he pours his power of existence into it.

Thankfully, the array powers down indicating that Botan was on her way through time. Swiftly she opens the last of the bottles that they had liberated from _The Spirit World_ 's cache of enchanted objects. As she presses the opening against his chest she whispers, "I will find a way to give you a soul of your own. We didn't go through all of that trouble just to lose our father. You will not die. I do so vow."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dekuyume shakes the memories away, scattering more cherry blossoms from her long black hair. Setting down her tea, she rubs her blood colored eyes in frustration. _The journal had only contained her memories up to a certain point and while it had chafed to have her every action meticulously planned out, she wished that she had found a way to include memories of this… She had tried and failed several times to give Kiyoshi-Otousan a soul of his own so he didn't have to worry about dying. So far, she had failed._

She closes her eyes with another sigh, but when they open, her perspective shifts from where she sits at the kotatsu to the center of her being. Dekuyume had rather easily decided that she liked neither the way that Naraku had organized his mass storage dimension, or the visualization that he had used to differentiate between each of the souls that had made up his collective. The end result was a play on her name, her domain, and a scene much easier on the stomach, though not by much.

 _The Battlefield was endless, spread out infinitely in all directions._ Dead bodies, broken hearts and shattered dreams lay strewn about, the nightmare only hidden by the red haze of blood that floated like fog along the ground. _But sometimes the fog rose above it all to obscure the sky from vision only to rain, as if weeping for the damage done._

 _Her mass was in the shape of a titan, walking endlessly into the sunset. When it rained, the blood fell in rivulets down the titan's skin and the footprints left behind stretched backwards in a perfectly straight line into infinity._ But it wasn't just a perfect replica of a naked human, no, it was also a castle with rooms in different parts of the body, most notably the heart, mind and stomach.

 _Her hearts-home, the seat of her magic, was beautiful garden full of poisonous, hallucinogenic, and lethal flowers all a bloom under a harvest moon. The implied threats of deceit, corruption and death soothed away by the presence of a gentle stream of water entwined throughout, and aglow with lightning bugs._ _Though… the insects used their lights to attract either mates… or prey… so perhaps the threat was merely carefully hidden._ Whenever she felt unsettled, the tiny French table and its matching chair held her gently, soothing away her troubles. Sometimes she even brought a book and read by the light of the lightning bugs.

 _Her stomach was a vast cavern, as if the inside of her chest had been removed but for the heart. It was a ridiculous amount of space, but it was needed due to the sheer amount of matter that she wanted available to her at any given point in time._ It was incredibly hard to go from pseudo-human to some of the more interesting forms she had transformed into when starting from scratch, and having to remember each correct DNA sequence. It was just so much easier to keep the completed models and switch from one to another. _There were more models than floor space, so when she had reached the point where she needed more room, she had simply built another floor above it. She would run out of room eventually, but for now she still had lots to work with._

 _The spiral staircase made of bone, was probably a bit much, and the signs on each floor indicating what biology could be located there might have been more legible if they weren't engraved bone. But she only had so many materials to work with, and she wanted to save the more important ones for her minds-home._ The minds-home was considerably less gristly, at least until you realized that the floor was in the perfect shape of a human head that had been bisected half way through the nose. The floors were a nice shiny obsidian black and there was a clear dome barrier that kept the blood out when it rained. The room wasn't very big, just large enough for the desk laden with monitors that went along the perimeter of the mostly circular room and the cushy office chair that sat in the middle.

Here she had let her name take precedence. Much like all of the other magic that she had used during her past incarnation as Naraku, the puppetry spell had been revamped and reworked. Instead of golems made of wood and tied to the spell-caster via a piece of hair, these were made of flesh and blood, and made use of the body-soul-mind interface to allow for her to be in multiple places at the same time. For each body, there was at least one computer monitor, connected to the minds-home via her ship, internal dimension, and memory archive. Like a videogame aficionado running multiple instances of the same game, she was both here, there, and there as well.

 _Desktop Dream indeed._

Sitting back in her chair, Dekuyume tucks her feet up onto the edge and curls her arms around them with a troubled sigh. _Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. And so a single soul exists in multiple dimensions, in thousands of roles, some different, others so similar that the only difference is the price of daikon._

 _Somewhere, in that infinite sea of possibilities, there had to be a place where the odds against Otousan gaining a soul of his own was possible, thus avoiding death by flickering._ She had been searching for a battlefield/dimension where they had the highest chance of success, but she hadn't been having much luck. _It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack without knowing what color the needle was, or if it was made out of hay too._ She had learned quite a bit about reincarnation at this point, having performed the reincarnation of several souls herself. _Permitting the Higurashi to remain free of the non-existent mercies of the other kami. But it wasn't reincarnation that she was trying to perform on Kiyoshi, she was trying to give him a soul of his own, and while it bore a slight resemblance to reincarnation, she had a sinking suspicion that it would prove to be fundamentally different in terms of magic._

The mechanics of reincarnation were fascinating. The body died and the soul was sent to loiter in an appropriate afterlife while waiting for their turn to reincarnate. The soul was then sent to _The Wheel of Reincarnation_ where it would be processed. Inside a shielded pod, the soul would be stretched, like tilling a field. This would make room for the soul to grow during its next life. The kami also took the time to plant seeds inside a soul, memory-vine seeds to prevent the soul from remembering its past incarnations, inky black seeds of doubt, golden kernels of wisdom, and a kaleidoscope of spiraling multicolored seeds of faith, tiny flowering seeds of ideas and dandelion fluff dreams.

All of them were necessary tools for the largest seed they planted in a soul, the thread thin vines of fate would spread throughout the soul guiding it from one lesson to another, so that no moment they were alive was wasted. Seeds from previous lifetimes would either be removed, or de-germinated and reprogrammed when the new fate matrix was applied. And then the _shapeless,_ ball of spirit and fate was placed in a vessel, and just like gelatin given a container to cool in, the soul set in the shape of its vessel, a vessel shaped by DNA and circumstance.

Then, once the life had ended, the soul that left the body was the same shape as the vessel that had contained it last. But sometimes… sometimes the shape did not take and when the soul left the body once more, it returned to what it was before, or fell apart into some mish-mashed mimicry of their best idealized self. Therein lay her problem, there didn't seem to be a way to keep a soul stable around a derived kami like Kiyoshi, even if she could find a vessel that wouldn't explode when she shoved everything inside.

A monitor beeps and Dekuyume turns to it. With a smile her perspective shifts, and Dekuyume shuffles over at the kotatsu so Sōta can sit next to her while he does his homework. The two of them are joined by Kagome and her husband Aki Hōjō to work on their college homework when they get out of class. _It was true that Inuyasha had matured considerably in the aftermath of their quest, but somehow Dekuyume still had troubles wrapping her mind around the fact that Aki was Inuyasha's reincarnation._

The students are only interrupted by Kānēshon and Jinenji as they bring food to the table for dinner. As the children Dekuyume had adopted follow the smell of food to the table, it magically expands to provide room for them all. Dekuyume smiles softly at her family, leaning into Kiyoshi's side.

 _It didn't matter how long it took her to figure out how to give him a soul of his own, she knew she would eventually. Kagome no kami and The Well of Time had already given her proof of that._


	4. Chapter 3: Memories, Suspicion and Guilt

Chapter 3: Memories, Suspicion and Guilt

Yusuke Urameshi was not a happy punk. _First he died, only for the dumbasses in charge of the afterlife to tell him that they didn't expect him to jump out in front of that car to save that little kid. Just what kind of monster did they think he was! You could be a teenage middle school delinquent and a street fighter and still be a decent human being! Hell he was a better human being than some of his so called upstanding citizen teachers!_

 _Just about the only good thing that had come of the whole cluster-fuck that was his return to life, was finding out how much people cared about him, and getting a kiss from Keiko. The high of being alive once more hadn't lasted very long, the pacifier breath in charge had conscripted him. Sure, it wasn't too bad. He got to fight people a hell of a lot more interesting than the wimps he had been dealing with lately, that Hiei dude had been the fastest bastard he had ever had to deal with, and if he hadn't managed to bounce that spirit gun attack off that mirror, he would have lost. Considering how badly Spirit World had managed to fuck him over, he doubted that they were any kinder to people who had stolen from them, but Hiei got no sympathy from Yusuke, the little fucker had tried to turn Keiko into a mindless yōkai._

 _There were no words for how pissed off he was when he realized that he couldn't use the tickets Botan had lured him into hunting down Rando with. Fuck… it would have been worth dealing with losing to Kuwabara for once, and having to deal with the idiot's bragging. Instead of this one way ticket to training hell._ His arms tremble as he continues to balance on a single finger over a bed of spikes with nothing but his spirit energy to protect him from a nasty fall. _The idiot wouldn't have had much air to brag with if_ _he_ _had had to deal with the granny's crazy training._

There was one consolation in this, _he was going to kick serious ass when this was all over with, and it would be over with pretty soon. He would be back to school, not that he would be doing much attending unless Keiko dragged him in, but it was as good of an excuse as anything else._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Hiei idly stretched as he glanced around the cell _The Spirit World_ fools had thrown him in, the other prisoners flinch under his ruby gaze. He had still been unconscious from the detectives attack when they tossed him in this hell hole. The other prisoners, seeing how small he was for a yōkai, had mistaken him for an easy mark. _He had corrected that gross misunderstanding._ _He was an elemental yōkai, his apparent age matched his emotional age, and had no correlation with the 16 years he had lived. As a result, he had looked like this for the past decade. He had rapidly lost what little childish innocence he had when those damn women threw him away for something he had no control over._

He closes his eyes and returns to his meditation, _it wasn't as if there was anything else to do in here._ But the exercises he had learned to subjugate the Jagan eluded him. It was too difficult to focus, because while Dekuyume would understand the circumstances that had led him to this… she had been _Naraku_ before reincarnation, fate, family and Kagome had forged her into what she was today. But, over the course of their journey through time she had paid all of her owed karmic debt. _Dekuyume-neesan would be so disappointed if she wound up having to_ _ **rescue**_ _him from the consequences of his actions. More so, because he had_ _asked_ _for this._

 _He may not have known exactly what he was asking for, but Dekuyume-neesan always carefully maintained that delicate balance between ease and strife, making sure that their fates were something they could handle, while still granting them whatever requests they had made._

He tilts his head back to rest against the wall, watching the other prisoners in the cell through silted eyes. _Just like what happened to all of the souls that were processed by The Wheel of Reincarnation, the fate that Dekuyume-neesan gave the reincarnated Higurashi, was little more than scheduled testing, all the tests were opinion essays, and so there was no right or wrong answer. The power of free will let you answer any way you wanted, even if your answer was only silence. But fate… fate made sure that no matter what you did, there was always another test waiting just around the corner._

 _And so the Kami had absolute control over the souls they tended, while simultaneously, having no control at all…_

He couldn't help but wonder if Dekuyume had known that everything would turn out like this when he had made his request, furious and raging and so very sad when Yoko Kurama was declared dead. _There was no doubt. Everything was worth it because of Yukina, and there were no words for how_ _ **elated**_ _he had been when he discovered that the sly kitsune spirit had lived… after a fashion._ A smile flashes across his face as he is left wondering if Dekuyume had as much trouble keeping Kagome safe as he was having with Yukina.

 _Probably, he had wanted to know why she did it after all._

Seven members of the Spirit Defense Force approach and enter the cell. One approaches Hiei with shackles while the others keep an eye on the door and other prisoners. Hiei simply glares at the bumbling fool and allows himself to be shackled. He is led away from the cell in chains. It was time to see Koenma.

 _Unless the toddler kami threatened him with death, he would accept whatever punishment he was given. He would not be the one to force Dekuyume-neesan into the awareness of the other Kami. He would not shame Yukina, or the Higurashi. He may have only been Hiei for 16 years, but he had been Higurashi for much, much longer. And the Higurashi held their heads high, for among all the souls that walked the earth, they knew themselves better than any other._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kagome smiles as she sits for her next class, using the time between her arrival and the start of class to begin working on her creative writing homework. _Her fairytale romance with Aki was something else, but there was just something fundamentally wrong with being a kami and going to school. Granted, she had made it into Tokyo U and was double majoring in Creative Writing and History while Aki went for Medicine. At least she wasn't like that one poor kami who was in middle school. She didn't even want to think about managing a domain_ _and_ _studying for high school entrance exams!_

 _At this point in time, she really only had two complaints: that it was embarrassingly hard to major in history when you_ _ **knew**_ _what really happened, but couldn't prove it without having to claim being the Kami of time travelers…. Her second, was that while Aki was her soul mate, fulfilling her in ways that no other could… a normal life was kind of boring._

 _This resulted in many extracurricular trips through time, just to shake off the monotony, thank the well…kami, that Aki had taken the revelation of her godhood easily, she would have hated to leave him behind every time she went down the well. Things had only gotten sweeter when Deku-neesan merged their past selves with their current ones shortly after they had passed their entrance exams for uni._

 _She did feel a little guilty though, Kagome no kami had taken the place of the Kagome that had been Dekuyume's sister shortly after they had gone into the past for the last time. Somehow she doubted that the awkwardness of having Dekuyume treat her exactly like her sister when she had no memories of ever being so made up for the fact that Aki hadn't had a single clue about his past life as Inuyasha or their relationship. The only thing that made her feel worse was the fact that she had caused so much turmoil in their family when she just couldn't bring herself to trust Naraku's reincarnation with adding the other Kagome to her soul matrix._

 _And of course, when the memories and emotions of the not-Kami Kagome had merged with the one that was… She just couldn't understand why she had fought so hard against it. She still had trouble sometimes, as a kami she was well aware of all the lives she had lived. Even if she was most in tune with the Kagome who had grown with Dekuyume as her anesan, every now and then she would slip and the two mirror images would blend together leaving her desperately trying to remember silly things like the band of seven that one of her lives had never met._

 _It made her wonder sometimes. If she was having this much trouble dealing with her convergence, just how difficult had it been for her anesan?_

She looks at her math test as the teacher hands it back. With a wince, she places it in her bag. _I wonder what the morality of going back in time and taking the test again would be…_


	5. Chapter 4: A Saintly Beast

Chapter 4: A Saintly Beast

Yusuke Urameshi was upset...again. _Not only had the old hag held him hostage for another week of training (read: Torture), but just as he was about to go and cruse the streets to remind all the idiots who the top punk around here was, he sees the ugliest 4 inch long bug_ **_crawl inside some poor bastards head._** _Fuck. If he had known that he was going to become the go to guy to deal with this crazy shit he might have just stayed dead and wandered around until they were ready for him._

Botan naturally appeared, and told him that this was his problem to deal with now. _Just what I wanted to deal with today, a swarm of giant mind controlling bugs. Does she even do any soul ferrying any more, or has pacifier breath just set her up to keep track of me?_ Oh, and wouldn't you look at this portal we keep in the ground just to get you there, isn't that helpful of us? _Seriously? Can you even say there are multiple dimensions when everything that is supposed to be separate has more holes in it than Swiss cheese?_

 _Of course it could be worse. Kuwabara is damn funny, useless, loud, (watches way to many shonen anime) and definitely annoying, but still funny._ Even better, he got more help in the form of the two yōkai that he… _could he really say defeated? I mean technically he rescued Kurama… oh but he definitely kicked Hiei's ass._ Little bastard was glaring at him during the whole hike to the castle. _Portals everywhere and they can't drop us of at the front door?_

They were getting rewarded for helping, but he didn't really care all that much. There were four assholes fucking with his city that they needed to teach a lesson to, after he broke the damn whistle they were using to control the bugs from a dimension away. _And while it was nice that they were leaving the head honcho for last, he was getting bored just standing around and watching the other three fight. (It was even more annoying to have had to watch Kuwabara fight that damn tiger_ _ **twice**_ _.)_ He pointedly ignores that flash of horror and pain when he thought Kuwabara had died a fiery lava bath death.

 _That wasn't the problem though. The bastard in charge found about Keiko, and was sending every damn mind controlled human IN TOKYO, after her. That was not cool, not cool at all. She may be a bossy nag, but she was_ _his_ _bossy nag, and no one was going to be killing her damnit!_ Yusuke glares death at the green, human shaped plant before he punches it into green mist. _He wanted a real fight damn it! These sad excuses for punching bags were pissing him off!_

Kurama's eyes are sharp, flicking his rose-whip around himself in a fragrant, body cleaving arc, leaving a dozen cultivated humans dead at his feet. Idly he notes Hiei moving through Suzaku's pathetic stalling technique, and wonders if either of the humans can tell that Hiei has slain over half on his own. The cultivated humans were hardly worth paying attention to, they had grass roots for brains after all.

Content to allow muscle memory to cut them a path through the migrating topiary, Kurama allowed his mind to drift to earlier. _It was mildly embarrassing how he had missed exactly how clued in Sōta-kun was to the supernatural, up to the point that he hadn't even realized that his best friend was kami-born! It had left him insanely curious though. Who was Sōta-kun's previous incarnation? And just what was behind that enigmatic smile he gave Hiei? It had been so long since he had a good mystery to puzzle over._ He had wanted to ask, knowing full well that Sōta would answer, but the presence of the SDF, who only allowed the detour so that he could have an alibi to give his mother, kept him silent.

Yusuke grunts as the ledge of the watchtower catches him in the ribs. Below his dangling feet the brainless groaning of the plant zombie things blocking the way into the tower increases in volume. Grateful that the damn things are too dumb to climb the stairs and chase him, he rushes up the rest of the stairs. _Hang on Keiko, I'll take this guy out soon and you'll be perfectly safe while you yell at me for skipping class today._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Had today been any other day, he would have ignored the insects that were native to _The Spirit World_ 's annexed portion currently serving as housing/time-out-corner for the yōkai that had once roamed the mortal plain. Had today been any other day, he would have just come back home when none of his teachers showed up to the school, and watched the chaos that Tokyo and all of its suburbs descended into from the comfort of the heavily warded shrine. Had today been any other day, he would have been content to leave it all to someone else to deal with, secure in the knowledge that if someone had to do anything about it, Dekuyume would have led the Higurashi out of the Higurashi Sanctuary, and the clan would have rather promptly restored order.

But today was not any other day, today was his 15th birthday. _So he was pretty sure this mess was all for him._ _Best present ever… not._ With a sigh, another insect attempting to possess him is vaporized by his holy magic, as he walks down the street searching for their source.

 _Shortly after things had started settling down at the Sanctuary, he had decided that even though he was nowhere near as spiritually powerful as his sisters, he needed the ability to do magic of some sort. He hadn't cared about how he did it, as a kannushi for one of his kami-kin, or as a yōkai of their domain, or even as a psychic. They were all the same to him it had taken only a gentle touch from Deku-neesan's super massive soul to find out what the best fit for him was._

The family had talked, and ultimately Sōta had taken up the mantle of a holy person. _He didn't really care if he had been one once before, the kami may have set up their rules against being called into service as a yōkai or holy more than once to protect souls. But like Deku-neesan and Kagome-neechan had chosen to become yōkai and miko over and over again (Deku-neesan's moonlighting as Kagome no kami's miko before being adsorbed by Naraku aside)_ _Sōta_ _himself had chosen to become a holy again. It wasn't abuse if you asked for it, no matter how sketchy it looked from an outside perspective._

 _And wouldn't the world be surprised when it finally realized just who's kannushi he was._ Another insect is vaporized by his aura, drawing his attention back to his surroundings. He had tried freeing a few people he had stumbled across, thankful that Dekuyume had taught both of her siblings how to use their magic. _Though, he wouldn't touch written magic with a 50 foot brush, that stuff was dangerous if you made even the smallest mistake. He much preferred spells he could either cast with pure intent, or with the aid of a chant and herbs. The simple conjure light that he had learned before his two sisters went on their journey into the past had expanded on to become a dozen spells he could cast as long as he had enough power and/or materials._

He almost slips on the trash littering the road, his legs were tired from how far he had walked following his 6th sense, but catches himself before he can fall, though he does get something nasty on the corner of his blue jeans. _Unlike Kagome-neesan, he was smart enough not to wear his expensive school uniform. And it was smarts, it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that it was an embarrassing shade of pink._ His jaw drops as he rounds a corner. Of all the people he had expected to meet, Botan was not one of them. Sōta's eyes narrow as he spots the angry horde chasing after Botan and a middle school girl. "Botan-san! Over here!"

Botan inhales sharply, _she hated running._ Her senses ran wild for a moment as she measured the soul of the boy calling to her. _How had he known her name?_ Oh. _He was holy. Yay! Help!_ "This way Keiko-chan!" The two girls run over to Sōta as he pulls a dried, pre-bound bundle of white heather, yellow carnations and mint out of one of several pouches attached to his belt. While the two girls rest their hands on their knees and pant for breath, he begins to chant. Within moments, the flowers dissolve into magic that arcs around the three of them forming a gossamer thin, mint green, net-like barrier. Within his hands a crystal forms and as he pushes his magic into it, the bands of the net thicken, to the point where only a single finger would fit through the gaps between them.

Botan stares in awe at the boy as, with a charming smile, he begins to leisurely walk and the barrier, _the barrier moves with him._ "You… That… _How?!"_ Sōta smiles, _clearly this wasn't their Botan-san then._ "Neesan is quite the spell crafter. She found it annoying that barriers were chained to the earth and not the caster. By sacrificing protection from a few sources, namely small size projectiles like pebbles, sand, air and water. But what it lacks in coverage, it makes up for in flexibility. Not only can it take stronger hits, it can also move." The angry horde of possessed humans catches up, but there is enough holy magic in the barrier to cause fear in the insects, and no matter what tune Suzaku plays for them on his whistle, they would not touch it.

Like the worlds lamest parade, Sōta walks Botan and the girl, who he has discovered is a Sarayashiki jr. high student named Keiko Yukimura, and happens to be the girlfriend of the newest (and only active duty) spirit detective. _And wasn't that interesting, to find out that his self-proclaimed task is actually someone else's problem._ _That could be a problem._

Sōta shakes his head while the two girls cheer about the end of their marathon sprint. "I suppose you have no idea who I am yet. I am Higurashi Sōta, and there is a barrier around the shrine I live on. No one who wishes harm to those inside may enter. We will be safe there." Botan nods in wide eyed surprise. _He wasn't talking about an anti-harm barrier was he? Those were notoriously hard to maintain, never mind finding someone who could actually put one up. Just who was this boy?_

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Overjoyed by Keiko's safety, _even if it was annoying that some pansy faced goody two shoes was the one doing it,_ Yusuke relaxed, and with an arrogant smirk, threw almost all of his remaining spirit energy at Suzaku and his six clones, vaporizing the fakes. Exhausted and tired, he cusses under his breath as the arrogant fucker just makes six more, each ready, willing and able to continue electrocuting him with their annoying lightening attacks.

It was his lucky day though, he could hear the other three approaching behind him up the stairwell. He falls unconscious from the shock treatments, and enraged, his three teammates collectively kick Suzaku's replicating ass. It takes Kurama only a matter of moments to begin healing all of Yusuke's nerve damage. Tired and battered the four boys make their way back to where their portal awaits their return.


	6. Chapter 5: Non-Diplomatic Diplomacy

Chapter 5: Repercussions and Non-Diplomatic Diplomacy

Koenma stares slack-jawed at the soul camera screen playing the events of Maze castle. _This was a problem. Scratch that. It wasn't just a problem it was an unadulterated disaster._ He hadn't known it until the time fold just before where Yusuke was first made a spirit detective, but it was the events in the castle that broke the first lock on his Mazoku heritage. _Because Kazuma Kuwabara's spirit energy was unusual, so unusual that one day it would grow into something that could cut the barriers between dimensions._ And it was that very same energy that was used to fill the aching void that Yusuke had left in his body… the first time. But because Yusuke knew that his girlfriend wasn't in danger he did not make that last attack, so he did not deplete himself enough to need a transfusion and so the seal on his Mazoku heritage remained firmly shut.

Koenma presses his trembling hands together. _What was he going to do? There were so many things coming up in the future that they would_ _need_ _that power for. If he found some other way to force the same scenario… would it be a betrayal of the soul he had once upon a time called friend?_

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Boton-chan" Botan looks up from the tiny dog-wind yōkai children frolicking around their wind yōkai mother and Keiko who is much more reassured now that she has been given proof that not all supernatural beings are cruel. Botan's heart trembles in her chest as she meets the eyes of the most dangerous being she has ever met. The elder sister of the boy who rescued them and kami of _The Eternal Battlefield_ who had a human body for the placeholder of their domain. _A kami who could directly talk to the souls that prayed to them, who could lay their hands on those souls directly with only a thin layer of space and matter between the two. That… there were no words for how dangerous that made her._

Fearfully she follows the kami that beckons her towards the sacred tree that served as the placeholder for yet another kami. _She knew that she would not be allowed to leave with her memories intact, she had seen proof of so many rules being bent in this Higurashi Sanctuary…_ Her lips tremble and her eyes fill up with tears. _I just hope it won't hurt very much._

Dekuyume knocks on the wood of _The Sacred Tree,_ before glancing back at this timid waif behind her with an enigmatic smile. Boton chokes on her own breath when light pours out of the tree in the form of a Soul she knows better than any other. Higurashi Botan smiles at the self that was born in this time and dimension.

A quiet explanation ensues one Dekuyume finds bizarrely using Bingo as a metaphor, but ultimately leads to two versions of the soul called Botan leaving the Higurashi Shrine in one body after Dekuyume spends a few eternal moments combining the incarnations of Botan. Blessed with a great deal more knowledge and graciously accepting the fact that the Higurashi felt they owed her a debt, Botan takes Keiko to see (Read: scold) Yusuke before leading everyone to _The Spirit World_ for a debriefing. Botan smiles blindingly when she sees Koenma, it would be good to return to work for the Kami she loved enough to fill three times the end of time.

Koenma frowns as he takes in the laughing kannushi who had accepted his request for introduction. _He had thought long and hard about what to do and had rather easily decided that since this kannushi had taken away his ace, he would work for The Spirit World no matter which kami he was pilfering the boy from. The boy's patron kami had lost any rights of refusal when the boy clearly went out of his way to help Botan-chan in association with my domain._ He had informed the kannushi of this and as a result the boy had been laughing for several minutes now, and just when he thought the boy would stop, their eyes met and the boys laughter resumed.

Sharp eyes watch the room noticing several interesting things. _Firstly is Sōta-kun's reaction to Koenma's outrageous demand, understandable given his lineage. Secondly is the rather obvious fact that Koenma clearly doesn't know and last and most surprising… why was Hiei upset on behalf of a human kannushi he had never met._ Oh it wasn't obvious, but Kurama hadn't been his friend this long without being able to pick up on the subtle shifts in body language the elemental yōkai spoke in. Pulling some seeds from his hair he sets several flowers to bloom, holding them to Sōta's face. The laughter stops immediately as their calming fragrance and magic and Sōta thanks him. "Thanks Kurama-san"

And before Koenma can ask how he knows Kurama's yōkai name, or why he trusted the kitsune enough to let him touch his skin without his holy magic reacting much less breath anything the kitsune had laced his magic with.., Sōta turns to the toddler kami with the most politely threatening smile the latter had ever seen on a kannushi says, "Since you're so obviously out of the loop I will clue you in."

Koenma draws himself up in a rage, _just who in all the hells did this brat think he was!_ Once again Sōta cuts him off at the knees causing Kurama amusement as he realizes that doesn't actually appear to take much… But even he is surprised at Sōta's self proclamation. "I am Higurashi Sōta, son of Kiyoshi no Kami of _The Sacred Tree_ , younger brother to the primary operators of _The Well of Time_ , _The Eternal Battlefield_ , and uncle to Ambrosia no kami of _The Little Mountain_ , kin to the primary operator of _The Colloquium of Souls_ , and sworn-kin to a slew of hanyō and yōkai who live in the Higurashi Sanctuary including Sesshōmaru-sama. Please stop insulting my intelligence. I am practically a foreign diplomat, you have no authority over me, and you would know that, if you ever bothered to visit Otousan anymore."

Koenma's eyes bulged out of his face as he stares in horrified wonder at the soul before him. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei stare at the kami as he makes several amusing faces and turns all sorts of colors. Before finally uttering a strangled, "Oh." With a sigh Sōta takes pity on him and tells him "I turned 15 today so I was expecting some epic quest to fall in my lap like it did for my sisters. I suppose spending some time working with the spirit detective is a pretty good way to go about it."

He grins mischievously, and Kurama can see some of Shippō in his friends smile, "Here's hoping we won't be doing any time travel. I don't know how Kagome-neesan survived without hot baths and running water." Koenma goes ghastly white at the implied threat and simply nods his head up and down repeatedly in agreement thinking about the nightmare of paperwork he only just recently finished. And so four became five.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 _They had been so close… but it was no use now. The ignorant humans had killed him before he had even had a chance to live._ Dekuyume sighs, collecting Kiyoshi's essence back into the castaway bottle. He was still flickering, but at least it wasn't as much as before even if he didn't have a soul of his own yet.

Tucking the bottle into her obi she looks around at the devastation caused by the death of a pre-pubescent Akihito Kanbara who's natural near-immortality had been weakened by the kami placed inside of him just enough to lead to his death. _She wondered when it started. The human's belief that beauty was equivalent to kindness. As one of the kami subject to the power inherent in this belief, it was a constant battle, resisting the weight of it, but she would not give in. She would never give in. Not all benevolent gods were beautiful, and not all beautiful gods were benevolent and she didn't want to be. The price her heart would pay was too high._

With a sigh she turns and leaves them to their fate as the power of beyond the boundary causes a near apocalyptic event the likes of which takes the survivors over a millennium to recover from.


	7. Chapter 6: Un-Becoming

Chapter 6: Un-Becoming

Sōta gently rests his head on his desk. Safe and secure in his room working on his homework he resists the urge to bang his head on it repeatedly. _Kuwabara-kun watched way to much anime to be sent on a rescue mission without causing massive amounts of embarrassment to anyone misfortunate enough to be sent with him. And there were just too many things to list about what was wrong with Urameshi-kun. Who in the name of all the kami cops a feel to check the gender of their opponent?_

 _80 percent of all yōkai have some form of transformation, some of them are fairly tame true, but there are more than enough yōkai capable of drastic changes in biology. Have neither of them ever stopped to consider that if a kitsune like Kurama-san can change from a furry quadruped to a mildly anthropomorphized human, something as simple as gender isn't even worth considering? How the hell do they think yōkai propagate with their tendency to slaughter each other indiscriminately considering all of our opponents so far have all appeared to be male?_

With a groan he sits up and works some more on his homework, but he just can't focus. The events of the mission the team had been sent on were messy _. And by team he meant the broken pieces of their group all winding up at the same place because Koenma was even dumber than Dekuyume-anesan described him as._ Instructions were sent to Urameshi and Kuwabara by video. _Of all silly ways to get information from point a to point b, with all the power of the immortal plain behind him..._ _he chose to send a video… really?_

Turns out that some less than savory humans were exploiting an ice elemental yōkai capable of crying precious jewels called Tear Stones. Problem? She was Hiei's biological twin and they expected him to go postal on the human responsible for making her cry thus violating his parole. He probably would have too if the monk supplying the sutra holding her prisoner hadn't been aware of who they were, or at least of who Sōta was.

The guilty party was a Buddhist monk named Miroku Kazegumi, who had taken one look at Sōta, turned an incredible shade of white and begin removing the sutra sealing Yukina in while muttering apologies and explanations. Eventually Sōta had come to the realization that this Miroku was the one that had been sent to spy on his sisters in the past before the Higurashi had implemented their plans. The monk had been returned to the future and had spent all five minutes of the deconstruction stating that had he known that they were going to hurt a pretty girl he would have never done it, but damn it all he needed the money now that his parents had cut him off and weren't supporting his previous lifestyle.

The only beings to die had been the humans henchmen and while Urameshi and Kuwabara were high on the success of their mission, one kannushi and two yōkai kept their silence. _There was no way that those two idiots had defeated the Toguro brothers, not when the three of them had been able to sense the massive difference in power._

So here he was working on his English homework while wondering when this mess was going to turn around and bite them all in the ass. _Maybe he would have been better off running around in the feudal era. At least then the locals had an excuse for their blatant idiocy._

Idly he wonders how Hiei's mother dealt with having two twins in her abdomen with nearly polar opposite affinities and whether or not it was safe enough to ask Dekuyume…

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dekuyume stares at the rapidly retreating back of her little brother and his bright red ears. She taps the castaway bottle in her obi while she thinks. She sighs and takes another sip of her tea. It was cinnamon and chrysanthemum today and until Sōta came up and asked her for the tamest explanation to his question about Hiei and Yukina, it didn't seem to be bringing her any closer to truth…

Equilibrated Achromatic Synchronicity… the twins were elemental yōkai one water and low energy the other air and high energy a stable system where the energy was held at opposite ends of their power structure by the water and air barrier between the two…

The body was a vessel, and so were the puppets that Naraku had used. _Her body was her domain ship. It made a lot of things ridiculously easy, and it also meant that she didn't have to worry about any damage to her domain, because she was still an adsorption yōkai with full dominion over her body… she could fix any and everything up to and including death. So while it might be a bit… unsettling to give birth to her own father… It wouldn't kill her even if it failed miserably…_

Her body jerks as alarms blare inside her domain. Her perspective shifts as she turns to look at the list of messages on the screen to her left. She throws her head back with a devious laugh. Ku. Ku. Ku.. _All this time she had been searching for the dimension in which they had the best chance of giving Kiyoshi-otousan a soul… all this time and they had been living in it… just waiting for the inspiration to come._

 _A kami and a human could have a child if the kami was willing to fuse a reincarnated soul to the soul fragment from their lover with a seed of eternity, a seed of eternity which was a tiny sliver of their domain and ultimately not-soul but the essence of that made a kami a kami. And when the soul was being prepared for reincarnation the seed of eternity was removed and released into the aether to do as it willed and the soul fragment from their human parent was not expunged from the soul. And they had to remove it because if they didn't force it out it stayed._

 _It stayed!_

But… A single soul sliver was not enough to make a soul it took two and for a kami it didn't just take any two soul slivers it took two, each with their own seed of eternity. With a grimace of distaste she sighs. _How in the name of magic was she going to convince one of her siblings to be their fathers spirit-daddy?_

 _Somehow she doubted that it would help to remind them that when it came to Kami and their creation myths this wasn't actually all that bad._


	8. Chapter 7: Black Invitations

Chapter 7: Black Invitations

Her siblings had reacted as she expected they would and in spite of the fact that they wouldn't have to do much more than hold her hand for a few minutes they had asked for time to think about it. Dekuyume had been so angry, _this wasn't just anyone they were trying to save. It was their_ _ **Otousan.**_ In the end though they never had to come to a decision. Just hours after the discussion their Sofu at the age of 86 collapsed while sweeping the stairs and after several miserable days at the hospital he was diagnosed with stage 2 lung cancer.

Unwilling to go through the nightmare that was cancer treatments, he was released home on hospice. Once returned to the shrine he asked the kami he had served faithfully for a lifetime if it would at all be possible to receive a seed of eternity so that he might in turn give it to Dekuyume and become his father in truth. There were many tears as the men embraced. One castaway bottle, two soul fragments, two seeds of eternity and three days later Dekuyume and Kagome disappeared down _The Well of Time_ off to deliver the freshly souled Kiyoshi of _The Sacred Tree_ into the past.

The trip was necessary, because Kiyoshi had been waiting for them when they had returned from tying the last knot in Dekuyume's creation myth, and while a little trouble with time was not enough to kill a kami, there was no need to risk him so callously, not when Kagome was fully capable of a little temporal fieldtrip. In the end, his fourth seed of eternity was just another loop knot holding time stable around the two eldest daughters of House Higurashi.

Sadly that wasn't the only black invitation to visit the Higurashi. During the three days leading up to their Sofu's death Sōta was approached by a messenger from the Black Black Club. All five boys who broke in to save Yukina were to fight in a tournament of their creation or find themselves and their loved ones assassinated.

An unlikely thing given Sōta's circumstances, but unless everyone's families moved into the shrine and never left it again, the others were never going to be safe. To make matters worse, the tournament was a long standing tradition and had been going on since the barrier was placed between the worlds and the first low level yōkai crawled through the cracks. And every time it was held, Koenma was given a token team to represent him so if not them, then some other poor souls would find themselves taking their place.

As for the soul that Dekuyume had once called Sofu. Like all of the other Higurashi Dekuyume brought him into her domain and after separating his soul from his body, and removing the shard/seed of eternity to en-soul Kiyoshi, her once-grandfather was reincarnated into the family once more. The mother, a woman with pink hair courtesy of her ancestor Jūrōmaru, _and a temperament courtesy of his wife Sango,_ thanks Dekuyume profusely for giving her this chance. As a lesbian she wasn't all that interested in dealing with the mechanics of a male partner in order to have a son. That son would one day grow up to be a very spirited young man who on his 13th birthday would beg Kiyoshi to make him his kannushi. Kiyoshi would explain that he had already done so once before and that no one should have to serve the kami twice. But the boy would not be swayed and unwilling to say no to the soul that had given him a new lease on life Higurashi Hibiki would become his kannushi a second time, but this time he would have all the blessings his title should have granted him the first time around.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Yusuke was not a happy punk. _First the asshole he had already defeated shows up and tells him he only pretended to get defeated. And to back it up he drops a fucking parking garage on me all while threatening Keiko and mom!_ Of course the threat was really about his friends but those dudes could take care of themselves. It was his mom and Keiko he was worried about. _Then we get told we have two months to train for some lame fighting competition to the death full of yōkai that have had 50 years to plan for!_

 _But that's not the worst part. Not even close and fuck it all but how the hell does that goody two shoes Higurashi know the old hag! He started getting all shifty eyed and nervous when we got to the bottom of the stairs to her shrine and I totally knew that something was up. And I was right! He took one look at the old hag and asked her on a scale of Jaken to Naraku how badly this training was going to suck. And she laughed! She didn't call him a dimwit or tell him off or anything. Just sent him inside to make tea while she threw me back into the snake pit._

 _Fuck! She's my teacher dammit so why does she keep giving him personal lessons and explain everything nicely and then turn around and make me do handstands on spikes. He already has excellent control my bruised ass! Every time we fight the pussy doesn't even do anything beyond wave some herbs around say some mumbo jumbo and eat a sandwich while I wail on his damn barrier. He hasn't even hit me once and she keeps telling him how good a job he's doing! And there he goes now whispering something to the old hag while I'm over here training!_

"Sōta-kun. If you're going to see if any of them will accept you now is the best time. The kitsune is visiting his mother and the detective is nearly dead on his feet." Sōta finishes his lunch before nodding at Hiei sitting in the tree above and moves over to Genkai. "Obasama, I'm going to head up now." She nods "Don't break your neck, I don't want to waste my time on the pitiful excrement that will show up to the tournament. Once was enough." With a laugh and a wave Sōta turns and jogs into the forest Hiei a shadow ghosting along behind him. He makes the hike to the mountains in the distance in good time making use of a bit of magic and a bundle of Edelweiss Honeysuckle and Jasmine to enhance his speed.

He slows down and carefully takes the path known to every Higurashi and in the space of a few more hours finds himself at the gates of the yōkai exterminator village. Or what was left of it after the kami separated the yōkai from the humans. The gates appear to be just as pristine as they were when the ward was put up, opening smoothly when he pushes on the door. The pillar with the Higurashi clan symbol in the center is surrounded by much newer buildings. There are a few Higurashi here, all who specialize in the creation and matching of exterminator armor and weapons even though the materials they make their gear out of have become scarce in this dimension they still remain in the place of their ancestors honing the craft they have mastered over the millennia. It was time to see if there was any armor that would deem him worthy.


	9. Chapter 8: Masculine Mage Armor?

Chapter 8: No Such Thing as Masculine Mage Armor

Yusuke Urameshi was not a happy punk, in fact the way he was feeling right now was so far from happy it could be described as inconsolably irate provided he actually knew the meaning, so we will settle for pissed off. _The old hag dropped them off at the port where they were supposed to catch the ship to the tournament grounds and just as they were about to board some creepy ninja with a metal mask appears next to the hag holding out a wrapped bundle. Thinking he was about to get some kickass gift he strode forward ignoring how god dammed tired he was only for the hag to turn to the goody two shoes Higurashi and hand it to him with a bow. A fucking bow!_

 _To make things more insulting the boy said something about not being chosen and the hag said that the breaker of the Shikon curse had gifted a fire rat robe to the artisans in hopes that it could be reworked into something less… bright and then put to use._ Yusuke had no idea what any of that meant but from the murmurs in the crowd of yōkai gathered and how all of them suddenly seemed less inclined to get the party started before they even made it on the boat told him it was something pretty damned impressive. _And then, with a "Try not to fuck up too badly dimwit. I don't feel like training another apprentice." The old hag turned and walked away._

 _Fuck this. First time in his life he ever gets something good happening to him some baby faced goody two shoes pansy who had to be given step by step instructions by Kurama on how to throw a punch comes strolling in and takes it all away._ No matter how often he complains, he knows that training under the old hag was something worth bragging about, _never mind bragging about actually surviving the training. He was fed up with it! Let the granny deal with what happens when you baby someone and then send them off to fight in a tournament to the death._

Perhaps if he had been given a little time to cool down, things would have happened differently, or perhaps it was the intentions of a certain red eyed goddess capable of manipulating battlefields at will and he never really had a chance. Either way, once the captain of the ship declared that the arena springing out of the belly of the ship was to be the area for the preliminaries of the competition, Yusuke saw a chance to put Sōta in his place. He was not thinking about what would happen when the boy lost and they were disqualified before ever facing the Toguro brothers, at least not about anything past the point where the boy dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with a funny symbol on the back looked up at him bruised and bloody and asked for Yusuke to save him from the weak yōkai scattered around the boat. And so the moment that the captain finishes speaking Yusuke turns his angry eyes to the boy he has come to hate over the last two months and speaks over Hiei and Kuwabara as they argue about who will represent them.

"Higurashi will do it."

Sōta turns to the spirit detective he just can't seem to begin a camaraderie with, surprised at the gesture. _Perhaps this was his chance?_ "Sure thing. I don't mind." With a glance at all of the yōkai making their way to the platform he considers his options. "Hey, Kurama-san would you mind spotting me some budding yellow roses, orange lilies, sweet pea and yarrow?" Kurama's eyebrows go up and he wonders why his friend would ask for buds when the fully blooming blossoms would provide a much stronger… _oh… There was that Higurashi sentiment towards yōkai…_ Knowing his friends need for herbs and flowers in his magic Kurama had taken it upon himself to gather the seeds for a plethora of flowers. It wouldn't do for Sōta to run out of ingredients in the middle of the tournament. He doubted the Black-Black Club would understand ordering flowers as part of room service.

Hiei scoffs as Yusuke and Kazuma make jokes about Sōta bringing flowers to the yōkai he is going to fight, and while it is clear that the two boys think that Hiei is agreeing with them, Kurama knows very well that it is them Hiei is mocking. Hiei leans back against the railing of the ship, relaxing as much as he can to make himself appear non-threatening and finding the idea to have merit, given the large quantity of angry yōkai magic floating about the ship as Sōta makes his presence known, Kurama does the same. The captain declares the start of the contest and with a single shouted incantation "Rei Bakuhatsu!" An explosion of holy magic incinerates the blossoms in his hands expanding outwards to envelope the whole ship. With a single attack Sōta Higurashi had knocked out every hostile yōkai aboard a 400 foot ship.

The two human boys are left gaping at Sōta as he jogs back after the shaky captain declares his team victorious. With a worried smile at Kurama he asks, "Did I hold back enough?" Swiftly murdering any good will that may have sprouted in Yusuke from the impressive display. He shouts, before Kurama can even open his mouth to speak, "Hold back! Hold back! What the fuck man! You mean to tell me you could have killed all of these assholes and you just knocked them unconscious? What do you think is going to happen when they start to wake up huh? I'll tell you what! They're going to!" "Do nothing." Yusuke is shaken out of his tirade by Sōta's calm words. And he can't help but feel unnerved by the complete and utter lack of response to his anger. It was like the boy didn't think that Yusuke had it in him to beat the bastard into a bloody pulp.

Before things could escalate any more Kurama stepped in and soothed his comrades anger, "Peace Yusuke-kun. I'm sure that if any of them wake up before we reach the island they will be more than afraid of what will happen to them if they take up arms against us." With a groan of annoyance the angry middle-school punk stomps away. Sōta sighs. "He's never going to like anything I do will he? First he complains when I use attrition to wear my opponents down and then he complains when I attack first." Sōta shakes his head. "Mind watching the crowd for me while I change? I should start getting acquainted with the souls in whatever it is the exterminator artisans have remade Inuyasha's Fire rat into." Kurama politely watches the unconscious yōkai while listening to Yusuke complain to Kuwabara on the other side of the ship.

"Kurama-san? I don't want you to take this the wrong way, can you help me put this on?" Kurama turns to look at his friend and the first thing he catches sight of is an oddly gentle smile on Hiei's face as he watches Sōta struggle with his new armor. _Kurama would get to the bottom of this. And the more strange things he saw from their interactions the more he wanted to figure it out for himself instead of simply asking… It had nothing to do with the fact that Kurama was jealous of Sōta-kun for drawing the attention of a yōkai he had been considering pursuing for a while now, nor how he felt jealous of how at ease Sōta-kun was in the presence of the elemental yōkai when he could still see flashes of unease every time he saw Sōta's eyes over the edge of a kitsune offering._

Finally bringing his eyes to Sōta he easily shakes the pesky emotion off. It was easy to see why Hiei might find it funny. "Sōta-kun why would you think that I know how to put on a skirt?"

Sōta snorts, "You know damn well it's cuisse and not a skirt, even if that is what those two will call it. You also know that there is no such thing as masculine-looking mage armor. Now get over here and show me. I know you know how. There is no way that you've become a 3000 year old kitsune without seducing _someone_ wearing one of these." He shakes it at Kurama in exasperation and torn between laughing and smirking, the kitsune takes pity on him helping him into the armor and showing him the best way to tie it on to prevent it from falling down and tripping him up.

Once done he takes a step back and finds that he must commend the exterminator artisans, never noticing the irritation slowly building in the elemental yōkai watching them both... Kurama smiles, from the red on silver of the mask over his face, to the careful folds of the chest armor and its Higurashi clan symbol, the cuisse and red greaves against his black jeans was a striking image. One far more intimidating than the ancient style he remembers the original fire rat fur being in.

Predictably when the captain shouts that they will be docking soon and the two middle school boys run over, they begin laughing hysterically when they see Sōta and carry on all the way to the hotel generously supplied to them as the "guests of honor". The laughter dies slowly, but everyone feels the tension that fills its place as Yusuke spends the next ten minutes glaring at Sōta. Disinterested in getting into an argument with him, Sōta ignores the glare, turning to talk with Kurama about strategies for the tournament. The two are broken from their discussion about the best way to triage their team mates considering that only Kurama and Sōta were capable of controlling and gentling their magic enough to heal directly, "You won't be doing anything outside of this room unless you're told to."

Deeply offended on Sōta's behalf, and taking note that Hiei has gone threateningly still in his position at the window, Kurama turns to Yusuke to defend his friend, but before he can begin, Yusuke delivers the rest of his argument. _One surprisingly well thought out for someone not known for using his brain._

His reasoning? "Look, you proved your were ok at protecting yourself on the ship, but you're a fucking priest in the middle of a horde of yōkai already keyed up for a blood bath. Not only would it embarrass the hell out of me to be seen fighting with you and that lame ass girly armor you're wearing, the last thing we need right now is _more_ of the bastards going out of their way to try and grind us into the mud because we brought their natural enemy right to them."

With a sigh at how miserable human-holy-yōkai relations were outside of the Higurashi Sanctuary, Sōta found that he more or less agreed, but that he had to include one condition. "I can live with that, but I can't live with watching any of you die when I could have done something about it. If it looks like someone is going to die before we can get back here to lick our wounds, I _will_ step in and provide medical attention regardless of how much danger it gets us into."

Irritated at having the wimp who wouldn't even kill his enemies, talk back at him when he was the leader, Yusuke opened his mouth to tell the little fucker off, but Kuwabara's enthusiastic, "That's great! You'll be just like our secret weapon or something! When we make it to the final match you can fight one of those Toguro bastards and they'll never know what hit em!" Kurama's foxy smirk and Hiei's, "Hn." seal the deal leaving Yusuke victorious, but ultimately dissatisfied.


	10. Chapter 9: Matchless

Chapter 9: Matchless

Sōta was bored, sure there may have been a bit of excitement when the first team they would be fighting decided to drop by for some pre-match intimidation that sadly worked fairly well on Kuwabara. But clearly he shook it all off by the time morning rolled around and it was time to begin the tournament.

 _Honestly he was more interested in Genkai-Obasama showing up in the stands with Botan-san, Keiko-chan and another woman (_ who would later be introduced as Shizuru Kuwabara, the elder sister of his teammate), _than he was with the actual fighting. But that was understandable, when you got to witness sparring matches/ lovers quarrels between Kagura-neechan and her mate Sesshōmaru-sama fights like this looked like a bunch of kids at a schoolyard brawl._

 _Funny enough their first opponent was actually a very young yōkai in appearance. Of course as an elemental yōkai with the element of thread there was no telling for how long he had actually existed, only that he was mentally and emotionally equivalent to an elementary school student… one which thoroughly defeated Kuwabara… with Yo-Yo's._

 _He won't even call the what Kurama-san did with his opponent a fight. And Hiei-san so completely outclassed his opponent in the realm of fire affinity that there was no reason for him to use the Jagan much less something as powerful as the dragon of the darkness flame. If Deku-neechan was here she would be giving him that look, the one she gives to everyone right before she ruffles their hair._ With a sigh he returns his attention to the glorified testosterone-fest that is Urameshi's match with a muscle bound yōkai toting a purple Mohawk and an alcohol element. _((Dear anesan please in the name of all battlefields, don't let the rest of the tournament be like this or I will surely lose my mind. Thank you.))_ As he finishes his prayer he can almost hear his sister laughing.

Funny. He of all people should know that you should be careful what you wish for.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Something had happened. Sōta wasn't exactly sure what, but Urameshi had done little more than grunt at him in irritation when he stomped in after watching more of the days matches. His go-to for understanding the moody teen, Kurama, was off helping Hiei deal with the aftermath of trying to subjugate the dragon of the darkness flame. _Though if anyone could do it Hiei-san could. And hopefully a little alone time would push their relationship along._

Of course he considered just walking up and asking Urameshi what his problem was now, but he couldn't see how there wouldn't be property damage to the hotel room afterwards and he doubted any of them had the kind of money it would take to replace what broke. _All well it was probably nothing._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

" _What do you mean you can't use your spirit gun!?"_ Sōta hissed in irritation while mentally tracking Hiei's movements across the island. He could only assume that Kurama was with him as he had no way of tracking the kitsune's energy signature at this distance. As for his ability to sense Hiei at this distance, Dekuyume had promised the Higurashi that no matter where they go or what they become… they would always be able to find their way back to each other. He tunes out the words coming out of Urameshi's foul mouth focusing on the details. Apparently he had discovered this yesterday and was waiting for Kurama to come back instead of sucking up his pride and asking Sōta for help.

A smile ghosts across his face in spite of his anger as Kuwabara chastises Urameshi for being an idiot and Urameshi's sputtering indignation. Sōta closes his eyes and with a bow to the image of his sister/niece in his mind, he claps twice before he prays, _((This Higurashi Sōta prays to Shikon-Neesan of The Colloquium of Souls, please see to it that the rest of my teammates know to be back at the arena in time as Urameshi is currently experiencing performance issues and is unable to fire his gun. We also appear to be going up against other human psychics and I doubt the two boys will be able to handle this well. Thank you))_ Reassurance filters through him from a familiar outside source and almost immediately Hiei begins moving rapidly towards the stadium.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dekuyume looks in askance at her father who shrugs in his samurai armor. Word had spread of her success with her father and from around the globe kannushi and holy servants, shamans and prayer givers of flickering kami from nearly every pantheon had been sent with requests from their kami. Unwilling to allow that many visitors into the Higurashi Sanctuary at one time, Kiyoshi had graciously allowed the meeting to take place at the foot of _The Sacred Tree._

It had rather quickly degenerated into a squabble as each holy person did their best to proclaim that _their_ kami/god/holy-being was the one in the greatest need of her assistance. Fortunately for the preservation of her sanity simply stating; "That is enough I have already made my decision." was enough to quiet their babbling. Days later the last visitor would leave the shrine, and each one who had come leaving easily under the impression that _they_ were the first ones to receive her aid in secret. _It was a pleasant thing, to be in multiple places at the same time, albeit very time consuming._

With a sigh she leans back in her office chair listening to the pitter patter of blood-raindrops falling upon the clear barrier above for a few moments of blessed near silence. Rubbing her eyes she idly directs a screen and computer to her right to move her body from its position at the gates of the Higurashi Sanctuary back to her usual idling position at the sakura tree and kotatsu. Just as she is about to start working on her newest project (and the best way to explain why each kami had to grant two seeds of eternity to two souls only for her to take them away) the message center to her left which was solely reserved for the protection and happiness of her family beeps with a new notification.

With a sigh she shakes her head in exasperation at the request shown, all battlefields were her domain and frankly so much blood had been spilt on hanging neck island that she didn't even have to wait for the two lizard yōkai and their giant robot to engage Hiei and Kurama in combat to be able to manipulate events so that Higurashi and his kitsune could make it to the stadium in time to participate _. Though they would be a little out of breath from the sprint,_ _she didn't want to make it too easy now did she?_

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Ignoring the idiots who were playing around in the forest with a giant robot only to forget the fact that the island had been used for the Dark tournament for 500 years and as such, the forest had been used to discreetly take care of the competition between matches and was thus littered with traps of all kinds, including traps that would only be sprung if a certain weight threshold was passed… Kurama and Hiei made a slight detour that wound up taking them nearly twice as long as it should have to get to the arena.

But breathless and leaning against each other in a mildly embarrassing display of weakness, Kurama still mustered up the ability to ask. "Hiei. If I asked you how you knew that we had to leave at right that moment or risk being late would you tell me?" Hiei shakes the kitsune off and stalks over to the wall with a simple "Hn." Kurama smiles as he follows after and not even Yusuke's silly questions can break his good mood. Sharp eyes travel over the opposing team fully aware that the ones left behind in the forest were meant to stall and perhaps even kill them before they could make it to the arena; _if_ the expression on Dr. Ichigaki's face is anything to go by.

Attempting to salvage his plans Ichigaki tries to calculate what would give him the best chances of success and attempts to lure the three humans of Team Urameshi into combat with the three humans on his, but no one wins a battle of wits against a kitsune. As a result Kuwabara and Sōta watch from the sidelines as Yusuke plays target while Hiei moves too fast for the mind-controlled humans to even _see_ preventing their attacks from hitting the idiot boy taunting them. Truly, the two serve as an excellent distraction from Kurama as he plays witchdoctor with a sample of their blood that Hiei had so generously collected for him. Within 10 minutes of the start of the fight, Yusuke has finally run out of insults, Hiei is very bored, and Kurama has undone 50years of Ichigaki's research with aloe and a hand full of flowers.

Enraged, the doctor stabs himself with a needle full of a mutagen of his own devious creation and attempts to attack even after the match has been declared in favor of Team Urameshi. Pleased to finally shed some blood Hiei deals with the trash in a brilliant display of swordsmanship… which lasts all of 0.3seconds and leaves quite a bit of a mess for the tournaments cleaning crew to deal with and Sōta still matchless.


	11. Chapter 10: Of Barriers and Healing

Chapter 10: Of Barriers and Healing

They knew before they ever set foot on the tournament grounds that there would be nothing fair about this competition. But forcing them to fight twice in a row was dirty pool, even for what they were expecting, and it was even worse when it was suddenly declared that a medical examination would take place to determine their fitness for their next match when they knew damn well that there was no reason for there to be any legitimately practicing medical crew in this place where every fight was meant to be to the death.

And so they were quite surprised, when Sōta snorted, laughed under his breath, and grabbed Hiei by the uninjured arm and dragging him over to the swiftly set up medical tent and the Sorceress posing as a nurse without ever having her speak to them. Kurama can only watch with intense curiosity as his fiery friend merely Hn's grumpily and follows along with Sōta's tugging. _He was going to have to ask wasn't he? Otherwise the curiosity alone just might kill him before his rapidly growing list of enemies did._

With a grin and laughing eyes Sōta asks the sorceress for her name or to be more precise, "What is the name of this vessel?" With a devious smirk she replies, "Ruka." Before gesturing Hiei and Sōta into the tent, with a mumble about not being hurt since he hadn't even had a match yet Sōta complies, and as the healing barrier springs up around them Sōta takes advantage of its ability to use the energies of its captives to hold them prisoner. Truthfully the barrier was meant to contain grievously injured yōkai falling into a feral rage, snapping at anything and everything including the healers attempting to help them. So, Sōta pumping his magic into the barrier in the proper shape for healing, increased the barriers natural affinity for healing exponentially.

With the distraction of Kuwabara, Yusuke and Kurama taking on team Masho it would have been easy to forget about the two members of team Urameshi in the medical tent, were it not for the occasional shout from Sōta to remind Kurama not to be such a kitsune about things when they were handicapped and just obliterate his opponent. Thankfully the advice was taken at face value allowing the kitsune to take out Gama, Toya and Bakken before being forced to retire from the platform tired, and a bit scuffed up, but otherwise ok, to allow Yusuke to fight their leader, a wind yōkai named Jin who could have very well have been a brother to Yusuke in another life.

Under the comedy that was Kuwabara's fight with their last member Risho, and the appearance of Yukina at the tournament, it took only a little clever acting and one fully healed Hiei to ensure that none of the yōkai in the crowd, or the tournament committee, were made aware of the fact that they had been hoodwinked by the Higurashi. It is only Sōta who hears Hiei's whispered, "Thank you Deku-neesan." or Ruka's soft laugh as she pretends to flee in fear as her barrier is destroyed by his much stronger aura.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The youngest Toguro brother was... _disappointed._ While it was true that his former lover Genkai had come to the tournament, it was not as a competitor and the one time he had managed to speak with her alone, she had quite firmly stated that her apprentice was no-where near ready to accept her spirit wave orb. Just like that his only chance at fighting a person who might be worthy of 100% of his strength had evaporated much like his optimism at the hands of Kairen over 50 years ago.

It would appear that his desire to die at the hands of a human while using 100% of his strength would have to wait a while longer. There was some hope though, at least Genkai had not said that the boy would never be ready to accept her spirit wave orb. Toguro had waited over 50 years now, he could afford to wait a few more. Perhaps giving the boy a pants down thrashing would be enough of a motivation to get stronger, if not he was going to have to kill off the boys teammates. Toguro himself was proof enough of the effectiveness of that particular maneuver, even if it did leave a bad taste in his mouth to be able to justify acting just like Kairen.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sōta, gathered with the rest of the team, Genkai, and the females who had come to watch the hatching of Urameshi's spirit egg. Of particular interest to him was Hiei's twin Yukina who was very much not a Higurashi and possessed an innocence so sincere it left him curious about just what it was inside of her that gave her the appearance of an adult albeit a very short one. There wasn't even a hint of annoyance at Kuwabara's fawning, so it wasn't sexual maturity and the innocence she showed in the face of his behavior, left Sōta unsettled, feeling as if Kuwabara was hitting on a much younger little girl. The building rage he could feel coming off of Hiei, was a rather strong indication that he felt the same as Sōta.

The moment is broken however with the first sound of a crack coming from the egg. In the end its quite a bit of a let-down with Koenma almost immediately understanding the reason why Yusuke's golden spirit egg would hatch into another egg with a blue shell and black and gold spots, ultimately doing little but occasionally rocking back and forth with a muffled "Puu~." _Koenma knew it was because Yusuke was much further behind on his Mazoku transformation than he was the last time around, instead of hatching into the little blue penguin shaped chick called Puu, Yusuke had only changed enough to receive Puu in egg form._ While it was reassuring that the phoenix remained the overarching personification of Yusuke's spirit, it was disheartening to know that his friend was so much weaker than he could have been.

Amidst the heckling Yusuke receives from Kuwabara about getting a baby Pokémon for a spirit beast, Sōta, Kurama and Hiei wander off into the forest to get in some last minute training before the semi-finals. Not even the toddler kami of death realizes that another vessel of Dekuyume had been watching from the trees incase Sōta's presence had affected Yusuke enough to turn his spirit beast violent. Dekuyume's form clad in a simple kimono decorated with eucalyptus, and a tantō decorated with an equilibrium sign, disappears beneath a white baboon pelt before seeming to dissolve like a ghost into the shadows of the forest. Somewhere secure from the prying eyes from others the form would shift from as the vessel realigns with its designated caricature affectionately named Beautiful Suzuki.


	12. Chapter 11: Enchanted Objects

Chapter 11: Enchanted Objects and Magical Properties

Dekuyume leaned back in her chair with a smirk and a soft "Ku. Ku. Ku." She was taking a break from dealing with all the en-souling work she had accepted, to do something that all siblings found great pleasure in doing, but ultimately destroyed anyone who dared to do the same. _She was going to torture her family just a little bit. Not too much, she was just going to give Sōta the hope that he was going to get to play with the silly little yōkai, only to drag the chance away from him over and over again, and as for Hiei, it always was fun to tease him with either not enough… or too much of a good thing._

Sōta's eyes meet those of the old man standing with their next opponents, Team Uratogi. A shiver crawls up his spine, _he could tell that the old man was a Higurashi, but this match… this match was going to suck wasn't it?_ With the declaration that dice would be used to determine the matchups between each teams fighters, Sōta's suspicions were confirmed. Kurama on the other hand was quite confused, _just why had Hiei agreed so readily? He had to know that the dice were most likely set to favor their opponents, and granting Hiei's demand to fight whenever the dice came up as "anyone" or when a teammate waived their right to fight… well that was just more to their benefit wasn't it?_

Less than a minute after the referee announced "Hiei from team Urameshi versus Makintaro from team Uratogi" she was announcing Hiei's victory. It would have been even shorter, but Hiei, who had had the privilege of sparring against Dekuyume, had a deep respect for shape-shifters and had watched Makintaro's transformation of an arm into an axe with great caution. But when he realized that this pathetic display was the limit of his opponent's abilities, he was profoundly insulted, and instead of fighting his opponent, he executed the fool.

The old man doesn't even appear upset by his team's loss, and with a shake of his hand the dice roll once more. Sōta's heart jumps in his chest as the dice declare it his turn to fight. Uratogi's Kuro Momotaro steps forward into the ring, and just as Sōta rises from his kneeling position, he finds himself falling back down into his seated position. Hiei steps forward past him with a smirk at Sōta making it clear that the fastest member of their team had kicked Sōta's legs out from under him preventing his rise. Hiei glares at the announcer "He won't fight until one of us dies. I will fight." Sōta is left gaping after Hiei, fuming in his seated position, _that… that's just not fair!_

The widening of Kurama's eyes goes unnoticed as Yusuke mouths off to Sōta and Kuwabara makes proclamations about the need for honor among comrades, not that Kurama actually takes in the words of the two middle-school punks, his mind was fully engrossed on a far more important matter. Hiei's smirk… had made his heart skip a beat. _Yes, it was possible that having 3000 years of experience was doing horrible things to his teen-aged body's hormones. But he also had 3000 years of experience in controlling himself and no amount of chemical rushing though his human bloodstream would ever match the deranged euphoria that came with the acquisition of a new tail._ The most telling thing though, was the intense flash of jealousy and longing that had followed in the lost beat's wake.

The kitsune closes his eyes with a sigh, _this was a terrible place to realize that his affection for Hiei was also sexual. Paired with the elemental yōkai's mercurial temperament, and the fact that Kurama didn't actually know anything about Hiei's experience in these matters…or his relationship with Sōta-kun. What a mess his heart had made of things in the space of a few moments._ A shrieking birdcall drags Kurama's attention to Hiei's fight before Kurama can realize that the thought of ignoring the feeling and refraining from pursuing a relationship with Hiei never even crossed his mind.

Kurama easily understood what had happened even if he had been too distracted to make note of the method. _That was careless of him._ Hiei's opponent appeared to have used the objects from his belt to transform and had amazingly managed to break Hiei's katana. While Kuwabara, and to some extent Yusuke, appeared to be worried for the elemental yōkai, Sōta and Kurama remained fully aware that while Hiei's options were limited, he was by no means unarmed.

Though, for all of Kurama's knowledge and experience Sōta knew that of the two of them, only he was aware of just how far from unarmed Hiei actually was. Sōta watched the rest of the fight with a blank face, lost in thought about how much of a riot it would cause to have Hiei use the full extent of his power on this idiot, and insanely curious as to the ability of the orbs to make Kuro Momotaro immune to that sort of damage… provided that he managed to scrape together enough cells to use one…

Kurama's match against Ura Urashima appeared to be a whirlwind of cracking air and swinging whips. Between Kurama's rose and Urashima's fishing pole, neither opponent seemed to be getting much done. Just as Sōta was about to open his mouth to once again remind Kurama that there was such a thing as _too much caution,_ Urashima sprung his trap, causing the kitsune to drop his weapon and fall to his knees. Sōta wasn't exactly sure why Kurama had made such a mistake, but could hazard a guess from Urashima's bragging about managing to lie to the kitsune. He was more worried about that fishing pole. _Was it magic of some sort? Just how did a fishing pole manage to hit Kurama-san hard enough to send him to his knees?_

Raising a fishing line barrier, all that was left was for Urashima to do was to open the box that he had held upon his back. Those left on the outside of the ring would have been clueless about the events that followed were it not for the fact that the announcer Koto was close enough to Urashima to hear him brag, "This is the Idunn Box, and it has the ability to steal time from anyone exposed to its vapors, aside from the opener that is. With the amount of smoke trapped in here with us, a measly half-breed like you should degenerate into an itty bitty baby." Indeed from the soft meowing from the arena it sounded like the domestic-cat yōkai had been reverted into the form of a kitten.

While the crowd was staring intently at the fog and the suddenly increasing power coming from within, the old Higurashi on their opposing team and Sōta are the only ones who notice the ripples in Hiei's magic, the dilating of his eyes, his shortness of breath; why he has to cross his arms in front of his chest, both to conceal his sudden arousal and to hold himself back. His blinding grin is restrained to a smirk at the swirling barrier collapsing under the weight of Yoko Kurama's immense A level aura. He even volunteers information to the two confused middle school punks, the fool fighting Kurama had pushed the kitsune so far backwards in time, that he was facing Kurama before he was forced to merge with a human to save himself.

There was so much emotion in the elemental yōkai's voice as he explained, that Sōta was left wondering if Hiei took up grunting his answers to emotionally charged questions to keep his opinion on the matter to himself. _Because he just couldn't figure out how Kurama-san didn't know Hiei-san had a serious crush on him considering they had known each other nearly 3 years now…_ As the fight between Kurama and Urashima turns into Kurama trying to force the secret of the Idunn box out of the little fisherman, Hiei's eyes lock intently with the opposing Higurashi. The smile that he receives in return causes both Sōta and Hiei to groan at the same time. _Oh kami… Deku-neesan was in one of those moods again!_

Ura Urashima's murder at the hands of one of his remaining teammates is quite a surprise, and while Sōta found it very cute to have the little cat run up to the microphone and meow into it to declare the end of the match, somehow he doubted any of the yōkai in the crowd were impressed.


	13. Chapter 12: Screaming Souls

Chapter 12: Screaming Souls

Sōta was right of course, they were given a new announcer, a Sea-horse yōkai by the name of Juri for the next match. This left Koto, who had returned to her adult form, quite furious and hissing like… _well… like an angry cat_ , from the booth that had been set up to allow her to continue to provide commentary for the tournament.

If Dekuyume were truly intent on winning, with three losses on their side and only two remaining team members left alive, she would probably be a bit upset by now. But the people on her team were just a collection of people her Suzuki persona had collected while following the personality profile she had created for him. They were fundamentally weak and had only made it to the semi-finals due to the magical equipment she had made for them.

 _Making those magical equips had actually been one of the highlights of Suzuki's existence to her, aside from the fact that it was always so much fun to have a team of her own in this tournament so she could watch it from the best position the stadium had to offer…_ She never actually tried to get her team through to victory though, there wasn't really any wish that the Black-Black club could grant that she could not grant for herself, and the type of people this tournament tended to attract as contestants weren't really the type to inspire benevolence from her… so the prize was useless.

It was nice that this time she could also serve as a bit of a breather for her otouto's team, before they had to face the remainder of last year's champions. The silly match against Kuwabara Kazuma and Shishiwakamaru holds his attention for a wholly different reason than what one might assume. Were it not for the fact that Dekuyume was wrapped in Suzuki's persona, who was in turn wrapped in Onji's persona, she may have given something away. As it was…

Dekuyume leaned back in her office chair, setting the temporal discrepancy between herself and Suzuki to its highest setting. A hand over her mouth, tears streamed down her face.

 _She had found her first daughter's soul._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 _Excerpt from CH27 "Magic" of "The Third Reincarnation"_

(The creature was pitiful as it thrashed its deformed limbs and writhed on the ground, choking to death on its own intestines. While the information gained had been worth the cost of magic and matter Naraku… hated himself a little for what he had done to Ito. He had performed her funerary rites himself, unwilling to let another touch her.) Red eyes close as he takes a deep breath, remembering old aches his human mind would not let him forget or shunt aside.

He wondered if anyone had ever realized that Kanna was not his first incarnation, or that his ridiculous tolerance for Kagura's antics was because she had Ito's face. _Ito for whom he still felt regret for, an entire lifetime after her death…_

Dekuyume sighs once more. _It should have been obvious, for all that he was willing to take the jewel into his body to act as a power source, he never wished for the Shikon no tama to give him any abilities he did not already have the capacity to perform. With his penchant for adsorbing other yōkai he knew better than anyone that anything easily obtained was often easily lost. If the shard hunters had ever managed to pry all of the shards from his grasp, he would have lost nothing he was not prepared to lose._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

She had saved all of her children, _and they were her children, though Naraku had attempted to disassociate himself from them by calling them his incarnations_. All of them but one. _Ito the Dimensional Witch._ Ito who had died and passed into the immortal plain and had been reincarnated as Sesshōmaru's ward Rin. Rin who had fallen in love with with a human despite the plethora of yōkai Sesshōmaru had allowed into his palace in the hope that she would become mated to one and remain with him for more than a single human lifetime. Rin, who by then was trained to master level as a miko and journeyman level yōkai exterminator, was out running an errand as part of her training when she met the lone survivor of a battle between some samurai and a minor level ice-yōkai. Doing her duty as a miko, she healed the man under a barrier before turning to do battle with the yōkai foolish enough to attempt to stir up trouble with humans in Sesshōmaru's territory.

Awestruck, the samurai followed her as she went to deliver her message, only to discover that she was sent to meet him and inform him that the exterminators had been informed of the ice-yōkai terrorizing his lands and would be there within a day. The awestruck man was Oda Nobuhide, and after much negotiation with Sesshōmaru, Rin changed her name to Dota Gozen to hide her ties with yōkai in the wake of "The Division Proclamation" by the kami. Her son Oda Nobunaga would go down the path of conquest that had led Sesshōmaru to her, beginning the unification of Japan, but her public life made it nearly impossible for her to return to Sesshōmaru or the Higurashi even after her husband's death over 40 years before.

Like Ito, Rin too was lost to the cycle of reincarnation leaving her adopted parents Kagura and Sesshōmaru to mourn her death with the entirety of House Higurashi. It was her loss that brought Kagura and Sesshōmaru together, though they had been dancing around each other for nearly a century. He had been so cautious of her with her scent like poison flowers and high wind that often left him breathless. Many had sought him for his position, power and beauty, leaving him distrustful. Ironically, knowing her origin had left him both reassured of her motives, but wary. _Dekuyume was one hell of a woman to make your mother-in-law._

At the age of 13, when none of the exterminator weapons had taken a liking to Rin, Kagura had furnished Rin with a fan crafted from Kagura's own essence stating, "As Sesshōmaru has been disinclined to give you a mother before you became a woman, I hope that with this, you will at least know that you have had a mother's love." It was a bold statement to make at a state dinner with the clan heads of so many of Sesshōmaru's subjects in attendance, but it had marked the beginning of their dance.

Dekuyume's sobs change to tearful giggles as she lets the relative time between herself and Suzuki speed up again.

 _She had found her first daughter's soul. It didn't matter if Ito and Rin had disappeared under the layer of this new incarnation and would never be returned, she would pay her debt of love and family to Kuwabara Kazuma all the same._ With a fond smile over the boy's bluster in the face of Shishiwakamaru's fan girls she makes sure that the cape of no return simply re-directs Kazuma to where he is needed the most. Directing the dice to match Sōta and Shishiwakamaru next, so that Hiei can fight the wannabe-pretty boy imp and prove that skill was always better than a cheap gimmick like the banshee-shriek.

Her thoughts were still on Kazuma though _, what a dangerous game the reincarnation kami play, mixing human magic with that of the dimension witch inherited from his previous incarnations and pressing it into the form of a sword… It was a good thing that his soul still retained its inherent kindness and naiveté, there probably isn't anything that orange energy couldn't cut through if he put his mind to it, not even the barrier between the mortal and immortal plain…_

Alternate personalities watch from the forest as Kazuma meets up with the female half of their little group, and much of Dekuyume's hypothetical spare time becomes devoted to determining the best way to bring Kazuma, and most likely his sister, into the Higurashi. _Because even though Dekuyume loved all of her children deeply, she was also a kami, and_ _all_ _kami were possessive of what they considered to be theirs; the reincarnation kami had taken entirely too many liberties with Ito as it was._

Onji shifts his weight, rocking back and forth on his feet as Dekuyume settles back inside him, removing him from his idle state. The fight with Hiei is well underway and Shishiwakamaru has already activated the power of his sword, and is mimicking the magic call that the Ferrier's, like Botan, use to call souls out of the bodies of the recently deceased. It isn't powerful enough to call out the soul of a well adjusted person, but since only the lowest echelons of the makai could make it through the barrier that separated them from the mortal plain, the yōkai fighting in this tournament weren't all that spectacular to begin with.

To make matters worse, each and every one of them was an incarnation of nature, and nature… was not kind, as the lowest rung on the other plain, was it really any wonder so many of them did whatever they could to migrate to the mortal plain? It wasn't such a surprise that so much of the crowded audience fell victim of the sword. It was sad, yes, but those souls were under the purview of the reincarnation kami now, and making a soul yōkai twice, was as much taboo as making a soul into a holy person twice.

Hiei must have seen something in Shishiwakamaru though, because contrary to Suzuki's expectations, the elemental yōkai left his opponent alive, bruised, bloodied, regressed back into his imp form and both thoroughly schooled and devoid of fan girls, but ultimately alive. Distracted by tallying up how much work she just heaped on the reincarnation kami, she idly rolls the dice for team Urameshi. As the only survivor of team Uratogi, Dekuyume/Suzuki/Onji would fight next.

The die clatters to the arena floor, and Dekuyume only realizes just how much of her concentration she has devoted to the task of counting souls when an unexpected voice shouts, "It's about damn time!" Onji turns to look at Urameshi, whom he had been purposefully avoiding setting up a match with so that the boy could have every last bit of his frustrated energy to throw at the younger Toguro brother.

Yusuke cracks his knuckles while grinning like the cocky punk that he is at the old man who didn't do much more than raise one freakishly bushy eyebrow at him.


	14. Chapter 13: Infamy

Chapter 13: Infamy

Yusuke Urameshi was not a happy punk, he was in fact a _fucking pissed off punk!_ Yusuke had laughed his ass off at Kuwabara's embarrassing defeat at the hands of that Sissi guy and his lame ass veil _the guy could call it a cape all he wanted but the damn thing was a veil._ But that laughter had come back to bite him in the ass when the old man face palmed him with some weird glow-y orb that teleported him all the way to the other side of the island. _Fucking trees, fucking traps, fucking forest…._

As if that weren't bad enough, on his way back to the stadium to give the old man a piece of his mind he heard the sounds of a fight. Itching to get _some_ action today he made a slight detour in that direction and made a running leap out of the trees to clobber some idiot only to take out Kuwabara. While standing on the dork's back he tried to wrap his mind around what he was looking at. Keiko, was huddled down protecting the egg he had given her. His mind completely glossing over the fact that _she had claimed custody of Puu when she had caught him trying to crack it open to see what was inside._ Kuwabara's sister was standing protectively in front of her and Yukina while the old hag, Kuwabara, Chu, that kid with the yo-yo's, Jin and that ice yōkai friend of his were having a free for all with what seemed like everyone who had managed to lose a fight but still keep their life and possibly some other yōkai who wanted to get in on the action of jumping the spirit detectives girlfriend.

Needless to say, much of Yusuke's frustration was meted out on non-responsible, _but perfectly deserving,_ yōkai.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Onji gives a laugh at the expression on the brat's face as the dimensional travel sphere impacts it, taking him not too far away from where Genkai-chan, Kazuma and his friends are having a scuffle. Kurama's sharp eyes take in the sudden stillness in Sōta and the sudden wary tenseness in Hiei. Onji's laugh of: "Ku. Ku. Ku.", trails off as the dice finishes its roll, landing on Hiei. Kurama's eyes shift to his friend and it is only years of familiarity that allow him to see the elemental yōkai's suddenly pale face, or how he purposefully straightens his shoulders as if bracing himself for a difficult fight.

There is only one thought on Hiei's mind. _This… was going to be embarrassing._

There is only one thought on Sōta's mind. _Hiei-san, you poor bastard._

There is only one thought on Kurama's mind. _He must have answers, and soon, or his curiosity was going to drive him insane, or well past forgivable social transgressions… probably both._

Juri announces their match, "Hiei of team Urameshi versus Onji of team Uratogi!" As she shouts begin, Hiei blurs into movement hoping against all logic, that he will be able to snatch a surprise victory from this old man who wasn't just any Higurashi watching over them in the tournament, but was an instance of Dekuyume herself, one who had found the situation hilarious enough to laugh _… like that. That silly laugh had become the stuff of nightmares for the Higurashi, one that not even Kagome-neechan's influence was enough to erase from Dekuyume-neesan's_ _character. It only happened when she was about to ruin someone's day, usually with lesson in abject humiliation._ And underneath Onji, Dekuyume was looking right at him.

She is still looking at him when she pinches the steel blade with two fingers on his down swing. The blade is brought to a halt barely piercing the hat on Onji's head, leaving Hiei balanced perfectly in the air. He realizes the precariousness of his position instantly as transformative magic gathers around Onji's form. Faced with greeting the transformation up close and personal, or relinquishing his sword, he chooses the lesser of two evils.

Hiei's hand tightens around his sword as he is engulfed in purple miasma laced with… _shooting stars?_ Beautiful Suzuki's clown mask has the perfect view of Hiei's gob-smacked expression when his mind registers the fact that he is not faced with endless hordes of tentacles and random yōkai appendages, but with a spiky blond haired clown complete with white makeup and rubber nose. Suzuki takes advantage of his shock to smack him into the ground. The impact jars Hiei, but still he refuses to let go of his blade. "You are the first steppingstone on my path to eternal Fame!~ This Beautiful Suzuki has 999 skills to bedazzle the world with his brilliant shine!." Suzuki smiles… malevolently at Hiei as he scrambles to his feet. With a giggle Suzuki chirps, "Let's get _SPARKLY! Rainbow Cyclone!"_ launching his first attack.

The… fight lasts nearly half an hour, and in its aftermath, the crowd is left silent. There wasn't a soul left in the arena that didn't feel embarrassed to be there as Suzuki had proven without a shadow of a doubt that he did in fact have 999 abilities, half of which were area of effect of such magnitude that not a single spectator was spared, and all of which were geared towards _maximum_ embarrassment for everyone involved regardless of species or gender. Within the private viewing room of the Black-Black club each member was very pointedly _not_ looking at _anyone_ else, though they all agreed. If that clown survived his next fight, he was going to have the world's largest bounty on his head. _Once word got out about Suzuki's abilities though not even that sum would be enough to lure a competent assassin within a mile of him and would eventually ensure_ _Beautiful_ _Suzuki's eternal (Infamy)fame._

Sōta stares after Hiei's unconscious form wishing that he could leave too, _even unconscious he hung on desperately to the hilt of his broken sword_. His heart races in his chest as he hears the rolling of dice… slowly he turns to the arena where Juri is shakily attempting to call out the end of the last match in spite of her mortification. His eyes meet Suzuki's bright smile and his heart drops to the pit of his stomach as his eyes dart down to the dice. _Oh…kami no! He couldn't! he could not go through all of that again! Quick! Who could he pray to, to save him this embarrassment! There must be someone! Anyone!_ His panicked thoughts are broken as Juri manages to scream, "Victory goes to **_Beautiful_** Suzuki!" She is left panting from the strain and she trembles in fear as Suzuki pats her on the head, "Good girl, that wasn't so hard now was it~?"

Only silence greets him. With a pout Suzuki eyes up his next opponent, before turning away with a flounce and a sigh and walking out of the arena, "I am afraid I must forfeit, seems I have need of 1000 beautiful techniques after all. It wouldn't do to have to do something so _banal_ as repeat a skill now would it?" Shell-shocked Sōta turns to meet Kurama's eyes. The kitsune had managed to keep a straight face through the spectacle, but Sōta could still see the blush on the red-heads cheeks. "Kurama, you wouldn't happen to have any plants that erase specific memories would you?"

Ignoring the lack of honorific, _after that… experience, Sōta was more than close enough to call him by name._ Kurama remains silent and only shakes his head in denial, "Not unless you want to erase the last year of your life…" Sōta winces, "Might be worth it…", dragging a laugh out of the kitsune. Kurama's eyes sparkle in amusement as the end of the match is called and the two of them head over to the medical area to see if Hiei has sustained psychological damage.


	15. Chapter 14: Questionable Gifts

Chapter 14: Questionable Gifts

Not even the excitement of the younger Toguro slaughtering their teams semi-final opponents managed to break the heavy atmosphere Beautiful Suzuki left in his wake. Leaving many people discomfited and out of sorts, even the other members of team Toguro. As a result Hiei was doing some last minute training at the beach and vehemently denying loosing the last fight "I kept my sword. I _won._ ", being the only thing that he would say on the matter. Kurama was searching the forest for new and interesting plants shaped by the islands isolation and the overwhelming exposure to yōkai's catalytic magic due to the tournament being held there for so long. Any thoughts of chasing down _Beautiful_ Suzuki and demanding information on the creation of the Idunn box thoroughly discarded. Not even the parts of his personality that remained solely Yoko Kurama, wanted to mess with that crazy bastard.

Funny how Suzuki was quite interested in messing with him. And after Dekuyume had decided to make Suzuki a little bit less of a pushover, he was also skilled enough to sneak up on the distracted kitsune. As a result Kurama rose from collecting another specimen to see a spiky blonde haired man in a loose martial arts outfit, leaning against a tree. He would have dismissed the Bakurobaa yōkai had the man not proven himself thoroughly adept at the art of embarrassment earlier that day. Cautiously Kurama nodded in greeting. With a smile that did more for his face than the clown makeup ever did Suzuki stalks towards the still redhead, knowing full well that he was well within _Kurama's_ sphere of influence.

He had planned on the nature surrounding them to make Kurama less hesitant about Suzuki's approach, otherwise he would have done so as the human-incarnated kitsune spirit left his hotel room. Suzuki withdraws a jar with a single seed inside of it and holds it out to the other. "The tree of past lives is sensitive to time, so you will only get it to sprout once. I also had to sneak deep into the forests of _The Mount Kailash_ , just to get it, so unless you swallow it and let it take root in the space between your body and soul, you better plan carefully. I can guarantee… you won't get a second chance." With a smirk that is frighteningly reminiscent of the one from Hiei earlier, Suzuki gives Kurama a small bow before turning into purple smoke and shooting through the forest as a little star in search of his next engagement for the night. Kurama could only stare at the small opalescent seed in his hand. _Too many unknowns for comfort, and too many known truths to turn down freely offered help._

Suzuki takes the indirect rout when it comes to his gift for Kazuma. Though not one that Hiei would approve of, there was a certain curiosity about Yukina, because while she was Hiei's sister, she was not a Higurashi, though Dekuyume had thoroughly vetted her soul before she incarnated Hiei as her twin. The ice elemental was sensitive to the emotions of others and so, when the foreign yōkai approached her with feelings of curiosity and helpfulness, she did not shy away. It was also because of her ability to sense his feelings that she did not hesitate to accept the gift meant for Kazuma even though his words and actions appeared dangerous on the surface.

With exchanged bows the gentle woman and Suzuki part ways, _yes, she was well pleased with how Yukina-chan had turned out and when Hiei-kun returned to the clan, he would bring them a sister as well._ Suzuki was glad that his gift would reach Kazuma in such a way that the kindhearted lummox would feel obligated to accept, even if he discovered its source later. The sword hilt would help Kazuma learn better control and aid in unlocking his full potential, though it was nothing much really, since it had been cobbled together from bits and bobs from Suzuki's collection in the space of a single afternoon, but if Suzuki was going to go around playing Santa no Magical Equipment, he could not bring himself to leave the boy off the list.

It is only a pop, shooting star and coalescence across the island to get to his last stop before allowing Suzuki's autopilot persona to take over once more. Suzuki found Sōta sitting listlessly on a rock watching as Hiei played with his dragon of the darkness flame technique. Having felt her moving around the island, neither one of them look up at her approach, though both flinch when it is Suzuki's voice that speaks instead of Dekuyume's, "I hope that by now the two of you have learned not to make frivolous prayers or throw yourselves pointlessly into fights."

The two boys flinch once more as the reason for her abuse is brought to their attention. "Sōta-kun, you shouldn't have needed this lesson with so many of your kin being kami. And Hiei-kun, perhaps now you have some inkling of how much it hurt me to see you throw yourself into fight after fight creating battlefield after battlefield… You know I love it when the Higurashi pray to me… but not like that… it just makes my heart _ache_."

The two upset teens remain silent, refusing to speak or even acknowledge her presence. With a sigh, Suzuki runs his hand through his hair, before bursting once more and shooting off the island leaving two apology presents in his wake. Dekuyume could give them, but it was up to them to grant acceptance.

Its only as Sōta and Hiei get ready to head back to the hotel for the night that they spot the gifts Dekuyume had left for them. For Sōta there is a freshly picked bundle of flowers only available on the immortal plain colloquially named _God's Lament_ , there was only one spell that he could cast with them, one that _would_ kill him if he tried to use it without them. But it is Hiei's that leaves them both staring, and perhaps a little guilty for ignoring her.

But, for all that it was the most deadly blade in the Higurashi's possession, the blade was not one that spoke, even if giving it to Hiei said much. In Inuyasha's hands the blade had allowed him to surpass yōkai far greater than himself in spite of the fact that he had spent the last half of his life as a human. Even when he had become a doddering old man trapped on one side of the barrier and the yōkai on the other whispers had still carried his name and that of his blade that lived only to protect his wife and family. In Hiei's hands Murasame would protect the Higurashi once more.

By granting the blade to Hiei it was both an apology, acknowledging that yōkai gained the most strength through combat and a reminder.

 _It was a reminder that Hiei was strong enough that he didn't need to fight for any other reason than family, because underneath the thin foil of this incarnation, he was still a Higurashi, one who had overcome insurmountable odds and become the stuff of nightmares to millions of kami._

Hiei draws Murasame free from its sheath, allowing the blue Tear Stone to freely swing on the thin leather chord that was securely wrapped around the hilt.

 _Because family was more than the Higurashi to Hiei now, and Dekuyume acknowledged that too._

 _Hiei just can't understand why his vision is so blurry when he looks at the tear stone his mother had shed on his birth 16 years ago._ But the red, orange and yellow tear stones littering the ground around his feet give the answer.


	16. Chapter 15: Boom

Chapter 15: Boom

Koenma sucked anxiously at his pacifier. _He had no idea how the finals of this Dark Tournament was going to end. So much had changed from the last fold in time. It was only a small consolation that the rules for victory were the same, as such each team only needed three victories to bring the tournament to a close but he had no idea how they were going to eke out a victory. Somehow or another Suzuki was actually someone to be afraid of this time, so it was unlikely that his magical constructs had found their way into their side's hands, drastically decreasing the chances of Kurama's victory over Karasu. Hiei at least could be counted on to use the Dragon of the Darkness Flame to defeat Bui, but he just couldn't see how Kuwabara had any chance of defeating the eldest Toguro._

When Juri announces that Team Toguro will be disqualified if they do not have a 5th person for their team as stated in the rules for the finals and 5, 1 on 1 fights rule, Sakyo, the owner of Team Toguro steps forward and announces that he will take up the vacancy on their team. Koenma's eyes widen in horror as he recalls Sakyo's bet and how once upon a time Koenma had taken him up on it. _Oh myself… If things continue the same way, it will be Higurashi-san who pays for Yusuke's defeat with his life…_ The toddler kami pales unbelievably white as he imagines just how horribly it would go over… informing all _five_ of Sōta's Kami-kin of his death. Koenma's head hits the glass separating him from the riffraff in the stands below.

 _He was in so much trouble… but not even his Enma aspect could see a way out of this mess without gratuitous amounts of pain or groveling._ _Kagome-san alone was fully capable of drowning him in a storm of paperwork with little more than a few well planned (or was that poorly planned?) trips through time… Who knows what the third reincarnation of Naraku was capable of after managing to clear his rather terrifying backlog of karma. Koenma hadn't met the new Kami yet, but he doubted bringing news of Higurashi-san's death would lead to a good meeting. That said, it was possible that the samurai armor clad Kiyoshi-san could be worse, as Higurashi-san was his_ _ **son.**_

 _And kami, but kami could be_ _vicious_ _when it came to other kami and the treatment of their children._

All in all, it was a horrible situation, one made worse by the fact that Koenma, with his knowledge of the past/future timeline of this universe, was left with the rather unsettling knowledge that the arena built for the finals of the tournament, the one that he was sitting in… right… now… was probably rigged with bombs just like last time and just like his impending date with 5 angry kami… time until detonation was tick, tick… ticking away.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"We will now begin the final round! Will the first two fighters step forward!" Juri has to shout the last half as the roar of the crowd nearly deafens them. Karasu launches himself onto the platform, his black and red jacket whipping through the air behind him like wings. He stares intently at the pretty redhead wishing that he had had the opportunity to… egg the kitsune with his human eggshell into a fight. Kurama shifts forward to accept the challenge in the other's eyes, only to find himself beaten to the ring by Hiei.

Koto's voice fills the air as she gives background information on the two competitors, and their progress through the tournament. Karasu just sighs behind the mask on his face, "I had wanted to play with Kurama. Don't misunderstand, you will all die today, but he's my favorite and I did so want him to be my… _victim._ "

Hiei glares at the quest-class yōkai. _There were so many things he wanted to say, and it had taken a lot of foot work to make sure that he could wipe the floor with this bastard without stepping on Kurama's pride._ And Hiei would, no doubt about that. _He may have sealed his power before he was reincarnated by Dekuyume-neesan. Between the two of them, they may have done such a good job at it that the only part of his domain that could still reach him were the prayers of those who called out to him. And… Hiei would probably once again spend the rest of eternity sealed into this incarnation if it meant keeping Kurama…_ But nothing could change the fact that Hiei was still kami enough to remember the previous time folds.

And so… coupled with an eternity of knowing just how _worth it_ Kurama had made his sacrifice... _He also remembered just how close he had come to losing Kurama to this bastard and he was going to repay every last second of it just as soon as the damn announcer called the start of the fight._ Anxious to get started, he really can't stop the words from spilling from his mouth, as his hand tightens around Murasame, the blue tear gem securely hidden underneath the layers of cloak around his neck. "Fool. Kurama has better taste than to mingle with trash like you."

Unflustered by what will be just another dead yōkai, Karasu does not respond, though Kurama's heart is set racing by the at first alarming but ultimately flattering byplay. Fortunately for Hiei's blood pressure, Juri declares the start of the match as Koto continues her commentary.

With the Jagan and his own innate speed, dodging the conjured explosives was easy.

Keeping the Jagan from steamrolling through the minds of the weak minded fools in the audience was harder.

Knowing that by changing his opponent from Bui to Karasu… he was unlikely to master the Dragon of the Darkness flame technique anywhere near as fast as last time was… difficult.

Resisting the urge to use Murasame's curse to exterminate the bastard… was the hardest thing he had ever done.

But…

Karasu's face as he had dissolved into little more than an ash stain without so much as giving Hiei a paper cut?…

 _Priceless_

After receiving a note Koto announces that there will be a long intermission while the shattered remains of the arena are cleaned up and a replacement fighting platform is setup. Juri clears her throat while glancing between the two teams. "A break room has been set aside for each team. Announcements will be made when we are ready for you to return." As Team Toguro turns and heads through their exit, Bui pauses. His deep rumbling voice carries all the way to Team Urameshi, "Don't get cocky, Karasu's mask held back his abilities. Unless you want to meet the same fate the rest of you should stop holding back."

Yusuke's hand tightens around the band on his other wrist and Kurama is intensely aware of the Tree of Past Lives seed in his pocket. Green eyes glitter challenging as he retorts, "I could say the same to you."


	17. Chapter 16: Transformation

Chapter 16: Transformation and Information

It was quite clear that the room their team was sent to was usually used for hosting gatherings for the rich humans who used the tournament as an excuse to gamble. There was no other reason for there to be such a fancy table for them to sit at, or the gaudy gilded floor length mirror along the wall next to the window.

"I dunno Yusuke, those ogres of Koenma's don't look like they do anything but paperwork, even if they dress like they're from the stone age." Yusuke snorts at Kuwabara poo-pooing his suggestion for how they were going to repair the ring sometime in the next few hours. "Whatever, like your idea is any better." The spiritually sensitive teen shouts, "Hey! If that Risho guy I fought could turn dirt into armor and that crazy rock yōkai in Maze Castle can exist then there's probably loads of yōkai who can just magic the ring back into shape again!"

A female yōkai with a cart bearing a punchbowl full of water and cups enters the room with a soft knock. "Would any of you care for some water?" Sōta turns in his chair near the door and answers for their team and informs her that they were fine. She turns to go as Yusuke crosses his arms behind his head with a grin, "That's dumb, there's gotta be a better way to get us a new ring!" Hesitantly the female yōkai informs them that she had heard that the younger Toguro was _carrying_ the arena from the other arena to this one.

"But if we were just going to use the ring from the other arena why didn't we just go over there?" Kuwabara's confused voice trails off as the two boys run off to go see, leaving Kurama staring in worry at the seed in the glass vial, Hiei at the window, and Sōta sitting in a plush chair, gently caressing the flowers pensively.

Desperate to take his mind off of the only spell he could cast with the flowers, and what that implied about the results of the tournament, Sōta asks if the seed was a present from Beautiful Suzuki, knowing full well that it couldn't have come from anywhere else. Kurama turns to his friend, _whom he was beginning to suspect knew a great deal more about nearly everything that was going on than even the son of a Kami had rights to._ "Yes, given Hiei's rather enchanting blade, and the positively _holy_ flowers in your hands, I take it he visited the two of you as well?" _Kurama also suspected_ _that the sword hilt Kuwabara had been fiddling with last night was also a gift from the enchanter, and unless Yusuke was being more circumspect than Kurama gave him credit for, their team leader was the only member of their team who didn't receive anything. How worrisome._

Watching Sōta lifting the flowers up to his face with a sad smile Kurama realizes that Sōta's eyes are quite red… _as if the boy had been crying._ His thoughts are broken though when Hiei abandons his position at the window to stand at Kurama's elbow. Hiei leans forward to look at the seed in the glass vial, giving Kurama a… _very_ _interesting look at the back of the elemental yōkai's neck. It really shouldn't have sent his heart racing the way it did, but it was rare that Hiei stood so close, or exposed such a vulnerable part of his body._ It left him a bit dizzy.

Hiei took a moment to identify the seed inside the glass jar as a pit from a fruit of the tree of past lives. _He knew. He had known for a while. Even if he was being teased with the kitsune's visage during the tournament, Yoko Kurama had truly died years ago, the hunter had only injured him yes, but it was a human mothers love that had finished him. If Minamino Suichi was given the choice, the only thing that would remain of the legendary spirit fox would be a nick-name shared with friends in the know, and an affinity for plant magic. And somewhere between the vast amount of time he had known him, and how closely he had watched each lesson in humanity that took fragments of Kurama's demonic soul and reshaped them into something a little closer to human, Hiei had come to accept Kurama's decision, even if it was a high price to pay for the kitsune's survival._

 _…_ _Even if he had not been able to do so the first time they walked down this path._

Still leaning towards the glass jar _and the startling promise of a future different than what he was expecting_ , Hiei glanced back at the kitsune to find the redhead staring blank faced at him. _Kitsune, what are you thinking about to make you wear a mask like that?_ "Kurama." Hiei watches intently as Kurama's sharp emerald eyes focus on his own carmine stare. _Measuring the distance Kurama's eyes had shifted, Hiei came to the startling realization that the kitsune had been staring intently at the nape of his neck. Oh…_

Suppressing a shiver, Hiei exhales softly while slowly straightening his posture. He takes a quiet deep deep breath to calm himself, _now was not the time to deal with this._ With an air of negligence Hiei tilts his head towards the seed. "Eat it." Opinion made known, _and in desperate need of some air not saturated with the kitsune's potent pheromones,_ Hiei flickers out of sight, disappearing out of the window back towards the arena.

Eyes wide, and staring out the window, Kurama is oblivious as Sōta shakes his head at the antics of the two love birds, and makes his exit from the break room to head down to the arena himself. "Team Toguro and Team Urameshi, return to the arena. The replacement is done. If all spectators will return to their seats, we will resume in 15 minutes." Kurama startles at the loudness of Koto's voice across the intercom, causing the seed to rattle around in its container.

Pointedly ignoring the fact that Hiei knew that the seed had to be swallowed, Kurama swiftly opens the container, and ingests the seed. His magic swirls inside of him as the seed dissipates into the center of his being, the sensation reminiscent of when he had regained his powers as a child, but far more potent. Kurama keeps his eyes closed tightly as the magic settles. _It was a huge risk he was taking, one based solely on the way that Hiei and Sōta had treated their gifts, and the way that the two clearly held secret knowledge. It was that knowledge that Kurama was gambling on now, and the hope that his friend and future lover knew him well enough to know how deeply it would hurt him, being forced to give up his life as a human and retake the guise Yoko Kurama and everything that it implied._

"Concessions is closing now, you have 3 minutes to return to your seats before the match between Bui of Team Toguro and Kurama of Team Urameshi begins." Knowing that he must return to the arena, Kurama forces his eyes open and decisively turns to look at the mirror. The vial slips from his nerveless hands and eyes wide in shock, Kurama is taken by surprise by the laughter that bubbles out from his chest. A vicious smirk flashes across his face as he gracefully spins on his foot and stalks like a predator out of the break room, all four elegant tails swaying behind him.


	18. Chapter 17: New Kitsune, Old Tricks

Chapter 17: New Kitsune, Old Tricks

Kurama is _quite gratified_ by the way his teammates stop and stare as he joins them. When Juri drops her microphone and Koto stutters to a stop in her commentary, the arena slowly goes silent, awareness of his transformation traveling with the psychedelic speed that only ever happened with _delectable_ rumors. He ignores them though, well used to the attention even if the experience came from a lifetime ago. His attention remains focused on Hiei, and how the elemental yōkai has gone still.

His newly sharpened sense of smell quickly identifies each of his teammates by scent, _and wasn't it interesting how his human nose hadn't been strong enough to do so, but he found their scents familiar all the same._ His eyesight wasn't much stronger, but it was still sharp enough to take in the dilation of Hiei's eyes and the slightly dropped jaw as his future lover silently gasped. The smile on Kurama's face is pure kitsune as a slight flexing of his muscles allows him to make the jump up to his chosen position with the announcer and his opponent in the arena.

A soft furry ear twitches backwards as he hears Sōta chuckle and lean against the wall next to Hiei, "Seriously, the tension between the two of you has got to stop, the rest of us might not survive if it goes on too much longer." Hiei's "Hn.", is no more or less informative than usual, though Kurama finds himself agreeing with Sōta. _And wasn't it interesting that Sōta was the first person to shake off his surprise with Hiei as a close second?_

Raising a single eyebrow while glancing at Juri is enough to shake her out of her trance, causing her to scramble for her microphone. Taking advantage of her replacement's frazzled attention, Koto begins her commentary, "Well isn't this a surprise! Kurama appears to have taken advantage of the short break to perform some kind of convergence with his sexy, silver haired pre-incarnation revealed earlier by the Idunn box! For those of you in the nose-bleed section, or naturally hard of vision, Kurama has fully retained his human features, but has gained a set of elegant claws, an _exquisite_ pair of ears, and not one but _four incredible_ tails, all the same rose red color of his hair. So ~ _dreamy!"_

Bui grunts, shifting the weight of the massive axe on his shoulder, "I see you have taken my advice." Kurama blinks, before smiling and shrugging one shoulder, "Honestly, I had forgotten all about it." If Bui responds, it is well hidden by his stone armor.

Juri calls for the beginning of the match. Swiftly, the axe is lifted from Bui's shoulder and swung as if it was as light as air. Had Kurama not been watching their opponents matches he would have been taken by surprise, as it was he was able to deal with the immense axe's attacks with little effort using the Rose Whip Thorn Wheel to parry the attacks he couldn't evade.

Kurama was so much more harmonized with his magic than before, _or perhaps the years spent sealed in a fully human form had merely intensified his awareness of his essence now that he did not have to reach_ _through_ _his humanity to mould it._ But those same years had also caused his well of power to atrophy, or perhaps there was a limit on how much a kitsune spirit could recover while inhabiting a human body. Either way the result remained the same. He was embarrassingly weak compared to what he should be, and knew he had to end this fight much sooner than he would have liked, lest he find himself too exhausted to continue.

Swiftly Kurama crafted a plan. Taking a page from a story he had once heard from Shippō _and found utterly hilarious_ , Kurama summons up his bamboo forest to obstruct Bui's movements. Knowing that he has only moments, Kurama ducks and rolls through the forest and when the man throws his axe through the bamboo as planned… Kurama can't really help but taunt, "You should be careful, plants take a rather dim view towards axes." Scattering lamp weed through the forest, using the flickering lights generated by the plants to distract his enemy Kurama disappears into the tiny forest and begins summoning the largest petals and thorns attack he is reasonably able.

The axe swings through the forest repeatedly, each time missing the kitsune, but leaving perfectly cut bamboo in its wake and a rapidly diminishing forest. Judging himself ready, and the shape of the cuts in the forest _just so_ , Kurama waits until the axe is headed directly for him. Ducking underneath the attack, and making sure the axe does not dissipate the petals and thorns, he spares a tiny amount of energy to the bamboo forest. There is a sharp metallic ring as a shoot of bamboo suddenly grows, spearing right through the loop that held the dangling chain on the end of the axe.

Bui, who had found himself wishing that he had faced Hiei instead, had grown bored with the fight. None of the kitsune's attacks had even scratched his armor, and so he marched forward to recollect his axe with impunity. As Bui steps into the hewn remains of the bamboo forest, Kurama quickly disassociates the center of the petal and thorn's attack, pushing it towards Bui. Kurama's smile is grim at Bui's approach, and his eyes a frigid calculating green.

Amid a hurricane of small wooden shrapnel and razor edged flower petals, one stone armor clad foot rises only to fall upon a lamp weed, crushing the glowing plant. Fire erupts, revealing that the plants actually burned to generate their light. Fire, meets large quantities of fuel filled air resulting in a dust explosion of such intensity that Bui and Kurama are thrown from the arena and into the stands.

The remainder of team Urameshi was lucky to have been protected by a hastily erected barrier by Sōta recognizing Kurama's plan from his sister's stories. _They would just have to deal with everyone knowing about his status as a kannushi. There was just no way any of the humans on their team would be in any shape to fight if they had taken the explosion without a barrier._

Sakyo and the elder Toguro took refuge behind the younger Toguro who didn't so much as sway on his feet. Juri would have been gravely injured were it not for the fact that in an uncharacteristic move, the younger Toguro had snatched the announcer out of the air as she was thrown by the explosion. After sparing him a brief thank you, she rushes back onto the scorched and puckered arena floor and begins the ring-out countdown.

Spent, and having had the breath knocked out of him when he landed on his back, Kurama was unable to make it back to the arena before the ten count.

Staring in feigned surprise at the armor-clad fighter that crashes into the stand next to him head first, an ogre watches with interest as the stone helmet crumbles. The ogre that usually worked in Koenma's records department looked down at the stunned energy yōkai with a surprised/curious expression on his face before he reached out and poked Bui right in his scar from Toguro. Bui doesn't even twitch in response, and the match is declared as a tie-loss as Juri reaches her ten count.

Koenma's pacifier falls out of his mouth as yet another match ends with the opposition never getting the chance to remove the seal on their power. _First Karasu's mask, then Bui's armor… If he didn't know better he would call this divine intervention._

Little did the primary operator of _The Spirit World_ know, but the next fight would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that divine intervention was **_exactly_** what was happening.

Though if he had been paying any attention as the Ogre dragged Bui away, he might have noticed the strange portal that opened to the Higurashi shrine, or the ogre's sudden transformation into a female Kami with red eyes and a teasing smile.


	19. Chapter 18: Dust in the Wind

Chapter 18: Dust in the Wind

The shouting from the crowd had _somehow_ become even more anti-Team Urameshi than before, though there had been noticeably quiet sections around Kurama as he had made his way back down to where their team was gathered on the arena floor from where he had landed in the stands. Kazuma couldn't quite make out what the yōkai horde was shouting, but it the intent behind it felt worse than when they were chanting: Kill. Kill. Kill (insert currently fighting good guy name here).

His senses told him enough, he didn't really need to know, though he would have taken the sharper senses, and dealing with whatever it was they were shouting, if it meant that he could hear his beloved Yukina shouting for his victory. But, his pride and honor as a man prevented him from showing that jerk Toguro, the older one. Sōta hadn't had a single fight yet, and this was going to be his only chance to prove himself to those yōkai in the crowd and shut them up. Kuwabara claps the older, but shorter boy on the shoulder, "Sōta-dude. You take this one, I'll deal with that yakuza looking bastard."

Surprised, Kuwabara's friendly clap on the shoulder had nearly knocked him over, but Sōta had taken a few overly strong, but friendly touches from yōkai orders of magnitude stronger than the orange haired punk, and managed to keep his feet. "Kuwabara-kun are you sure?" Kuwabara nods "Yeah, I owe him one for gambling on our fight with Tarukane when we rescued my darling Yukina-chan." Sōta offers the kindhearted boy a bow and a smile, "You are going to be a great man when you grow up Kuwabara-kun."

Kuwabara's surprised stuttering is covered up by Yusuke's mocking laughter as Sōta moves over to Kurama. "You ok Kurama?" Red ears swivel towards the kannushi as Kurama smiles gently, "Yes, I wasn't overly injured, though I did have the breath knocked out of me when I hit those stone benches." Sōta holds up one hand before pleafully bowing to the kitsune. "Could I ask you for a favor?" The kitsune's smile fades slightly, "I am sorry Sōta, but I used a great deal of power during my fight with Bui, I have very little to spare to make catalysts for your spells."

Straightening with a short laugh Sōta rubs the back of his neck, "No that's fine, I just need someone to hold these for me while I fight." He shakes the Gods Lament flowers at the kitsune gently in explanation. Graciously the kitsune takes them, though his curiosity is roused causing him to ask if he is sure Sōta won't need them for his fight. Sōta's response only whets his curiosity further, "They're meant for something much worse than tournament-style fighting."

The elder Toguro joins Sōta in the ring and Juri calls the match. His opponent proceeds to do a puppet show with his own shape shifting hands to demonstrate his idea of human, holy, yōkai relations in the past, _needless to say it's quite insulting._ Koto's more bloody, but far more accurate explanation is better, _though Sōta really could do without the crowd chanting, "Kill the priest! Kill the priest!"_ Either way, Sōta counts it as a blessing, as it gives him enough time to pull the correct herbs from his belt and ignite them with his magic. The edelweiss, honeysuckle and jasmine bundle was tossed out of the ring as soon as it began to smoke. It would increase his speed and dexterity for as long as it burned.

Noticing that his opponent was ignoring his psychological attack, the elder Toguro immediately sprung into action, lashing out with his hands and flinging his fingers at the kannushi like whips. Dodging away and summoning up his magic in the form of a staff much the same way Kuwabara did his sword, Sōta set about informing his opponent about the painful reality of yōkai and holy magic burns. Sōta was still training with the staff, having dreamt it up while watching Goku in the Dragon Ball series, the staff was capable of everything the Power Pole was even if it stubbornly remained the gold color of his aura and refused to match the bright red from the anime.

Considering his options Sōta realized that he was at a significant disadvantage against this particular once-human yōkai. Of the 12 spells he knew how to cast, the conjure light spell wouldn't do him any good here, nor was he likely to need to remove poison, and with how his training-fights with his shape shifting anesan usually went, the Rei Bakuhatsu would do more harm than good, scattering his opponent's matter around the place giving Toguro more points of attack against Sōta. The transient net barrier was also out, Dekuyume had also proven that a determined shape shifter could wriggle through the net and attack him. The spell he could cast with the God's Lament was a no go, and using Tokinokoe would just summon the nearest incarnation of Dekuyume to help him. _That left half of his magic useless in a tournament style fight… he was in for a hell of a time._

Tucking his head in, he rolls under another sweeping attack, using the edge of his staff to prevent the yōkai from diverting the attack downward, Sōta lines up the end of his staff with Toguro's chest. A sudden burst of magic is pushed into the staff causing the end to shoot out and catch him by surprise. The yōkai screams in pain his head thrown back for all of a second before he begins laughing uproariously.

Sōta can only stare in horror as the end of his staff remains embedded in his opponents chest and the scent of burnt flesh fills the air. Slowly the laughter trails off and the edge of the Toguro's malicious smile can be seen from Sōta's kneeling position. Toguro taunts, "Best thing I ever did, was using the wish from the last tournament to become a yōkai, you see not only did it give me the ability to change the shape of my body into anything my twisted mind can come up with, _It also gave me the ability to say fuck you to that pesky little sensation called_ _ **pain.**_ " His head comes forward with a lurch, "I'm going to make you jealous of that ability boy", and the fight truly begins in earnest.

The attacks from his opponent are faster. They aren't just sweeping or piercing attacks anymore either, and the bludgeoning attacks rattle the bones in Sōta's hands whenever he is forced to use the staff to block one. But the worst part, the absolute worst part, was that no matter how fast he was going, which attack he dodged or which attack he blocked, one of Toguro's attacks always seemed to get through, leaving Sōta with another cut, bruise, or puncture. _His holy staff just wasn't doing enough damage to Toguro, and Sōta was getting tired._

It was only a matter of time before Toguro managed to hit Sōta hard enough to send the boy to his hands and knees on the floor of the ring, a mixture of blood and vomit pouring out of his mouth. Sōta stabs his staff into the ground as he falls, summoning up the Reflective Holy Barrier that Dekuyume had modified from her Demonic Red Barrier. It would buy him the time he needed to deal with the aftermath of that last attack. He would need it. _Because Fuck. That asshole had ripped out his heart!_ The barrier had hewn Toguro's appendage before it made it back to the yōkai, leaving the chunk of flesh and Sōta's heart, _his damn heart!,_ to bounce on the ring floor.

He was lucky that this wasn't an anime where losing his heart would mean instant death. The human brain could go without moving blood for about 4 minutes before cells started dying. _One of the crazy facts about the human body he had memorized when learning about healing and oh kami but if that fact was probably the only thing stopping him from passing out right now..._

Shakily his hand reaches out and grabs his heart, _oh kami it was still warm._ The lump of Toguro's flesh next to it lashes out, piercing him through the hand and the heart he is holding. _His heart… Fuck he was going to have nightmares for years after this._ He brings the hand to his chest, and shoves his hand in the gaping hole, heart, and chunk of Toguro all.

His mind registers the reactions of his friends and family, the crowd, and his opponent but discards each of them equally. _He had more important things on his mind._ Drawing breath to speak was hell, and choking out the words for the first half of his spell without screaming gave him a migraine. _Because thinking about the possibility of the pain in his head coming from his brain dying was_ _not_ _going to help._ It takes him four tries, four vision blurring deep breaths, before he finally manages to spit the words of the spell out. It comes out as a scream, **"Doku Iyasu!"**

The magic lashes through him, and Sōta removes his empty hand from his chest, planting it on the ground with his other one. Like the conjure light spell, and holy staff, the first part of this spell pair needed no herbs. It was a characteristic native to his soul, even if he needed the words to focus his magic to bend it to his intent. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal, and every mark from his fight disappeared as if they had never happened. _The proof may have been gone, and his nerves may have stopped screaming, but Sōta was still shaking from the chemical onslaught._

Slowly Sōta pushes back and settles into a sitting position, tuning out the roaring of the crowd and the elder Toguro's taunts he starts meditating. A dried bundle of orange lilies, rue and lobelia comes out of his belt with a razorblade tied to the bow. Sōta holds the flowers between his knees with one hand before using the razorblade in his other shaking hand. His blood flows from his wrist onto the flowers as he whispers the second half of the spell. "Chiyu Dokuwomoru." Three times he repeats the chant and each time, the blood on the flowers flashes golden with his magic before finally, the flowers bloom as if they had just been picked from the ground and glow with their own colors...

Sōta's bloodshot eyes snap open as several things happen all at the same time. His barrier falls under the repeated attacks that Toguro had been making, and Sōta repeats the spell a fourth time, raising the flowers high above his head. The flowers burst into a brilliant ray of color that impacts Toguro in the chest. The yōkai jerks in surprise, waits a moment before realizing that nothing happened, before opening his mouth to taunt Sōta. "Ha! All that light show for nothing!"

Sōta tenderly rises to his feet. _It was over. He had won._ Toguro was so caught up in himself that he did not notice… As he had breathed out, Toguro had exhaled dust. Sōta's opponent dies spitting vitriol and taunts in his direction, a sudden breeze though the the arena is all it takes to scatter the dissolving particles of Toguro away. Sōta makes it to the edge of the ring as Juri names Sōta victor and for the first time the crowd is silent for him. He trips at the edge, but is caught by a familiar aura. Sōta presses his forehead into Hiei's back, not caring at all that he was draped over the elemental yōkai's shoulder like a sack of rice.

Hiei sets Sōta against the wall where he cracks an eye open. "I'm fine. Even if my arms and legs feel like noodles, technically I have no injuries, and my power levels aren't actually all that depleted. My body just needs a few minutes to remember that." Kurama kneels next to his friend, tucking the flowers into the crook of Sōta's arms, "You had us worried there for a minute."

Sōta smiles brokenly, "Funny, I had me worried too." Curious but uncertain if he should broach the question Kurama shifts back on his feet, preparing to stand. However, Sōta knew curiosity tail posture in a kitsune, having Shippō as his babysitter when he was younger had guaranteed it. "It's a paired spell, the first half converts poison, foreign objects and magic into a cure using the excess to heal any incidental injuries. The second half I have to use a catalyst for, and takes my blood with its antibodies and turns it into a pathogen against the original infection."

Kurama blinks slowly as he realizes that Sōta had purified the yōkai magic from the elder Toguro with his antibodies. _And without the magic to hold his abused cells together the former-yōkai had dissolved away into nothing. How utterly terrifying._


	20. Chapter 19: Madman

Chapter 19: Madman

Sakyo's voice is clear as he speaks into Juri's microphone. The noise in the crowd steadily increases, first has he stakes his life on the victory of the younger Toguro, stating that a fight between himself and Kuwabara would be quite a letdown after their fight. After all, the standings stood at one double loss, and two victories for team Urameshi. If Toguro lost, then they were completely done with the tournament, but if Toguro won, then the two teams would be tied and team Urameshi would have the choice of selecting one of their more skilled fighters to go against Toguro for the determining round.

But the noise becomes a roar when he explains that he intends to open a pathway between the human and yōkai dimensions when they win, so that the tournament could be held once every 10 years instead of every 50. It is in this roaring approval that Kuwabara accepts Sakyo's bet much to his teammates disapproval.

While Yusuke shouts at his friend, Koenma panics in his private viewing room. _He knows that there is no way for Yusuke to defeat Toguro considering how much of his relative power is still locked away under the seals on his yōkai heritage. There was also no way he was going to let that lying bastard Sakyo open a portal either. It would be total chaos, until the yōkai had a strong enough leader to force them all to behave, mixing the two races would either result in a blood bath or a nuclear holocaust._

The roar of the crowd was so loud that not even Koto could be heard over the speakers. It was in this raucous cacophony that Rinku, Chu, Toya and Jin spotted Botan, Keiko, Yukina, Genkai and Shizuru in the stands. While the old psychic had proven that she was more than a match for any of the demons in the crowd, after the last match the tension of the crowd had been driven to such a height that they all agreed it would be better to watch the match between Yusuke and the younger Toguro with the five females. _Though who would have thought that the scariest one of the bunch was Keiko? Or the offer that had been made to them by a land kami?_

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 _During the Semi-finals_

Keiko huddled under the shade of a tree, Yusuke's spirit beast Puu held safely in her arms. _She didn't really understand why this kept happening. After their first encounter Keiko had taken a liking to Higurashi-kun, and if she hadn't been so deeply in love with Yusuke, she knew she probably would have fallen hard for him. As it was he made a good friend, one who was more than willing to explain this strange new world that Yusuke was now responsible for policing as their Spirit Detective. She had visited the Higurashi Sanctuary many times now, Yusuke was busy so often with training that Keiko had felt incredibly alone at school. It wasn't as if she could explain what was going on to any of her normal friends._

 _But his sister… Higurashi-san was very honest, more honest than Keiko had really wanted to hear after being chased for hours by the possessed bodies of what felt like the entirety of Tokyo's population. The red eyed woman had been gentle though, even as she made it clear that because of the way that Yusuke had become the Spirit Detective… Yusuke was going to be doing this job for the rest of his life, or until he burned out his psychic abilities. Nothing short of an act of treason against Koenma or his father Enma would get him out of the implied contract before that._

 _Higurashi-san had also given her a warning, that outside their sanctuary relations between humans and yōkai were bad. She had taken the offered lessons in basic self defense given to every human in the sanctuary. They had been easy and informative, after all Keiko was one of the top students at her school, and the lessons had been less about how to hit hard and more about when to run, when to scream, where to hit if you had no other choice and when or where doing so would get you more trouble and not less. But the difference she could see between the world outside the barrier was so overwhelmingly bleak that the two didn't even compare. Everyone inside that hidden world had been so kind, taking time to answer her questions, even when she made an unintentional faux pass due to their species/cultural differences._ Keiko had been attacked more times in the duration of this tournament than the sum of all of the times people that Yusuke had pissed off had tried to corner her alone to get vengeance.

Honestly she was a bit surprised when the ambush had been sprung on them as they made their way to the arena where they were holding the semi-finals. _She knew that the yōkai didn't take Kuwabara-kun seriously, but Genkai-sensei was a champion of the last tournament, so why did people who couldn't even beat her apprentice think that they could get past the psychic to get to her?_ The answer had been made clear when the second wave of ambushers had leapt upon them in twice the numbers as before.

Yukina had stood there in shock, eyes darting around herself in stunned horror, she wasn't responsive at all until Keiko had reached out and grabbed the ice yōkai's arm. Yukina had immediately turned to the human and buried her face in Keiko's shoulder, ironically the girl's fear had shaken her out of her own allowing Keiko to move the two of them to a safer place, Shizuru pacing them as they moved. _Shizuru-san was a tough woman and often left Keiko wondering if she had been a delinquent in high school even if she was a hairdresser now. The woman certainly smoked enough for it._

Four more yōkai had poured out of the forest shortly after the second wave of ambushers and Keiko would swear that her heart stopped in her chest as she recognized each one of them. _It was hard not to, their team had fought against them personally._ But Chu, Rinku, Toya and Jin had quickly started downing their attackers alongside Genkai and Kuwabara. Just as a third bunch of attackers jumped out of the forest, leaving Keiko to wonder just where they were all coming from, one had chosen to sneak though the forest behind them.

The insect yōkai wasn't after Yukina, even though every now and then a plink could be heard as a tear stone hit the ground between their feet. It wasn't even after Keiko, even though everyone knew by now that she was the Spirit Detectives girlfriend. The yōkai had discovered that the egg she was carrying around was Yusuke's spirit beast and the opportunity to attack the boy's soul was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Puu was snatched from her arms as the yōkai flipped over their heads into the center of the clearing they were fighting in leaving many in surprise as the little egg emitted a clearly distressed, "Puuu~!?"

 _But Keiko hadn't saved Puu from Yusuke's abuse for nothing. That little egg was a reflection of his soul and even if Yusuke never grew up enough to return her feelings, he was still her best friend and there was no way in hell she was just going to let someone run off with Puu._ Amid the shouts from Yusuke's friends and allies, the cry of terror from Yukina and the cursing of Genkai, Keiko Yukimura runs after the yōkai.

 _The little egg was a part of Yusuke, she wouldn't let anyone hurt him not when she was capable of protecting him for a second time in her life._ Her tiny arms stretch out as she recalls those lessons from Dekuyume, and with a vicious yank, she rips the insect's antennae right out of his head. The yōkai falls backwards towards her screaming in pain. Genkai raises an eyebrow at the girls gumption, Shizuru whistles in surprise, Kuwabara is left with the unsettling feeling Keiko just did something really, really bad to that bug yōkai, while their allied male yōkai silently vow to never ever piss her off. Throwing the antenna into the yōkai's face she snatches up the spirit beast and runs back over to Yukina and Shizuru.

She almost makes it before another yōkai jumps in her path. Then, just as all the times before Yusuke appeared from nowhere to save her leaving her to wonder if he was really as spiritually insensitive as everyone kept saying he was. _Of course, she could really do without him bragging as if he were the only one who did something important that day. But just like the first time she saved him, giving him a kiss and some of her spirit energy to finish his return to life, she got nothing in return for saving him but a cocky smirk._

"Yuuussskee Urameshiiiiii!" Sensing he is in imminent danger from being nagged at by his girlfriend, Yusuke leans forward, steals a kiss and runs off with Kuwabara to try to make it back to the semi-finals. "Get back here Yusuke!" Astounded by Yusuke's behavior in the face of a female willing to rip the junk right off of a man, the yōkai can come to only one conclusion, Yusuke was a madman.

It is Rinku who notices first, tugging on Chu's pant leg to get his attention. Following his gaze, Jin, Toya, and Chu to go back on alert. Genkai is staring out at the trees intently. Impatient, she snorts, "It's just like you, to linger in the shadows at the edge of the forest like a bad omen." A fan snaps open and Dekuyume dressed in a simple white kimono decorated with verbena hides a smile, stepping out into the light. "That's a terrible accusation considering how hard I try to avoid intruding on fights that are not mine to meddle in Genkai-chan."

Keiko grins, good mood instantly restored in the face of someone who might actually appreciate her actions today. Dekuyume nods at her with a smile, "Well done with the yōkai Keiko-chan." As she her mind catches up to what the two had said Keiko asks, "Genkai-…chan?" Dekuyume flutters her fan closed, leans in conspiringly and states, "Genkai-chan is my many-many-times great grand-daughter, her feisty temper is all Sango-san, she was a yōkai exterminator before the division, but that hair of hers is all my son Jūrōmaru."

Genkai harrumphs and asks why she was bothering them. With a sigh Dekuyume points at the four yōkai with her fan, "The two shinobi, though the other two would be welcome just as much, I've come to grant their wish for a life in the sun… after a fashion." She graces the two of them with a soft smile, "There is a place hidden from the rest of the celestial ocean… a place where yōkai, humans and hanyō have lived in peace proving the pointlessness of "The Division Proclamation"… and that place is called the Higurashi Sanctuary."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Juri finally manages to be heard over the roaring crowd, and calls Yusuke and Toguro onto the ring. The Spirit detective looked so small against the giant man.

 _Little did they know, he was going to look even smaller as the match progressed._


	21. Chapter 20: David and Goliath

Chapter 20: David and Goliath

It was less of a fight, and more of a pissing contest. Yusuke would shoot a massive spirit gun blast, and an uninjured Toguro would state an increase in his power level, and give a demonstration on his new strength by planting a fist into Yusuke's body. Yusuke removed the spirit cuffs that he had been wearing since the beginning of his training with Genkai, and everything repeated again with the same results. And then, knowing that he had to keep Yusuke alive if he ever wanted an opponent worthy of 100% of his strength, but knowing that the boy probably needed his nose ground in it if he wanted the boy to take things seriously… Toguro raised himself to 100% of his strength.

Yusuke Urameshi… _figured he was probably going to die today, but he was going to go down swinging. He owed Keiko who had already had to deal with him dying once, and had provided the boost he heeded to come back to life. He owed it to Kuwabara, that dumb oaf was probably the most reliable person he knew, and he felt like an ass for letting him down. He owed it to the old hag, who had taken him as an apprentice and kept him no matter how many times she complained about him. And most importantly, he realized that he owed it to himself, because even though the same circumstances had led him to today, he had probably done more things he was proud of since becoming the spirit detective then he had since he was born._ _He just wasn't going to let that slip out of his hands. So what if nothing he had used had been able to put a scratch on Toguro. So what if the man could flick his fingers and generate bullets capable of knocking Yusuke on his ass. So what?_

Then, Toguro began sucking the souls out of the audience into the lumps on his shoulders. _But, Yusuke didn't have anything more to give._ And then while he was on his hands and knees puking up bile from another gut checking blow from Toguro, Keiko screamed… and somehow, somewhere inside himself… _he found something he could protect her with..._ _something that would stay. Even after he was gone._

He screams as he forces himself to sit back on his heels, _and he could swear, the world lit up in blue… even as he felt it slipping out of his hands, flickering like a dying light bulb… and then everything started to go black. But that was ok… Somehow he knew that Keiko was going to be just fine. But damn it… Hey Kuwabara? I'll let you kick my ass however many times you want when we meet up again in the spirit world._

After a ten count Juri declares Toguro the victor. The horde of yōkai in the arena cheer, even as the tiny group of humans in their midst cries out in denial as Kuwabara Kazuma steps onto the arena. Keiko cries into the soft tuft of fur on top of the little penguin that had come out of the egg only moments ago, "He isn't dead. He isn't dead. _Please. Don't let him die. I. I love him."_ The soft floppy ears embrace the disconsolate girl in a mimicry of a hug. "Puuu~."

The orange haired teen doesn't even tremble as he picks up his bloody unconscious comrade and carries him back to Kurama and Sōta for healing. _And then, Kuwabara goes back to face his death like a man, silent, and head held high, even if Toguro would need less than a punch to kill him._

Sōta focuses intently on stabilizing Urameshi, even if he flinches when the squelch of Toguro killing Kuwabara reaches his ears. Kurama closes his eyes as the human boy's magic fades to nothing, and in the stands Yukina cries, "He was so _brave_. Even as his heart stopped… _Why? Why does it have to be like this? I don't understand!_ " Hiei remains silent remembering everything that had happened before and wonders just why it was that he hadn't liked the orange haired human the first time… He turns his head to look at Sōta. _It appeared that they finally knew who Dekuyume-neesan had left the flowers for._

Sōta glares at the sunglasses on Toguro's face wishing the man at least had the courtesy to look them in the eyes. "Do you acknowledge that the terms of your agreement have been honored!" With a nod _and perhaps a bit of curiosity, just who was this little kannushi that had the balls to glare at him like that after he had defeated their strongest fighter and slain Yusuke's best friend?_ "Yeah." Sōta nods briskly, lips thin as he states, "Good, now get back in the ring."

Sōta stomps right past the muscle-bound behemoth. The crowd roars with laughter and Kurama could understand their humor even if he found it misplaced, with Toguro remaining in his 100% strength state, Sōta's chest was smaller in diameter than Toguro's _forearm._ And really, if the Spirit Detective chosen by the spirit world to guard over humanity had been defeated, why did a weak kannushi think that he could succeeded?

But Kurama could feel the _rather impressive_ amount of magic that Sōta had been pouring into the flowers since he received them last night, the flowers that were still gripped tightly in his hands. _But what truly gave him faith in Sōta's victory was the complete ease at which Hiei watched the boy take his place in the ring with Toguro._

Before Juri can call the start of the match, Sōta looks past his opponent to Sakyo, "I am a kannushi, as such I am morally prohibited from taking the life of another _human_. While I could make an argument that your behavior disqualifies you, I won't sink to your level. If you're even half the man Kuwabara-kun was, you will kill yourself." Sakyo raises an eyebrow at the boy's audacity, "Strong words, for a boy who barely defeated his last opponent. But I accept."

Juri declares the start of the match leaving Sōta's response to linger in the air, "This won't be a fight, but an _extermination._ "

Toguro waits to see just what the boy is made of, _more out of curiosity than anything else, content to wait until Yusuke received the spirit wave orb from Genkai before finally freeing himself from Kairin's shadow._ _Nothing had ever managed to even put a scratch on him while he was using 100% of his strength. Nothing this kannushi could throw at him would change that._

It would have been true, had Sōta planned to utilize any technique or magic that affected the body.

Sōta without any fanfare, holds the Gods Lament and points them at Toguro with one hand as if they were a cannon, his free hand pointed back to Kuwabara's dead body. With eyes like steel, the words of his spell come out of his mouth, not as a scream a chant or a prayer, but a **_demand_** **.**

 **"** **Kami of The Well Time and Kami of The Eternal Battlefield, your kannushi bids you to place the killer and the killed upon the scales, then tip the balance across the fulcrum of my reincarnated soul. As your brother I invoke you."**

The flowers burst into a swirling yin-yang of purple-black and pink, only to break apart. To the sound of a rapidly increasing drum beat that can be felt, but not heard, the purple-black magatama spirals into Toguro while the other spirals into Kuwabara's corpse. Amid the crashing of drums, a flash of magic, so fast it looks like lightening even to Hiei's eyes, shoots from Toguro, arching into Sōta before trailing down his free arm and leaping into Kuwabara. Kuwabara who sat up with a sudden jerk, sputtering as if he had been doused in ice-water.

Toguro took off his sunglasses and stared at his hands, _whatever magic worked by the wish he was given as the champion of the last dark tournament… had been undone. His youth had faded in an instant leaving him with all the years he had lived etched upon his body._ The sudden change sends his heart racing… and as a result, Toguro dies, not from a fight to the death with a human capable of pushing him past his self perceived maximum strength, but hand griping his suddenly tight chest and short of breath… Toguro dies from a heart attack at the age of 76.

Juri calls the match in favor of team Urameshi as the stadium is once again left silent by the Higurashi. Kurama rushes onto the ring, Hiei following behind him. Astonishingly Sōta is unconscious on his feet and Kurama gently lowers the comatose kannushi to the ground next to the very confused Kuwabara and unconscious Yusuke. He attempts to determine the extent of Sōta's injuries, only to be rebuffed by a Bi-colored pulse of raw magic.

Kurama stares in shock, ears twitching backwards on his head. _What… was that? Sōta's magic was golden, so where had the purple and pink come from?_ Hiei answers the unspoken question. "Sōta's… affinity for healing magic is so strong, he has the innate ability to take in any poison and turn it into a cure. That spell he casted was a _healing_ spell."

Kurama stares at Sōta as if seeing him for the first time. _The kami that Sōta is related to… took Toguro's murder of Kuwabara, and the entirety of Toguro's magic, somehow pressed them into and then through Sōta's soul before collecting the… antithesis of murder (resurrection perhaps?) and for all intents and purposes, revoked Kuwabara's death._ Suddenly Kurama realizes that his attempt at healing Sōta had been rebuffed by Sōta's patron/family _kami._ _He was lucky they knew he just wanted to help, otherwise he would have gotten more than his hands slapped._

While everyone is distracted, Sakyo pulls the remote detonator out of his jacket. _It had been a good game. But a loss was a loss._ But he dies before he can press the button. Hiei is too fast for the human to even register the danger and cuts Sakyo with Murasame killing him instantly no need for the curse in the blade to activate.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Hiei

Receives enchanted blade capable of killing anything with a heart in a single cut

Kills all opponents before curse can activate causing the blade to be recognized

Challenge

+Accepted


	22. Chapter 21: Interlude: Paperwork

Chapter 21: Interlude: Paperwork

Koenma, realizing that no matter how he searches his memory, he can't remember where they found Sakyo's portal generator _and oh myself wasn't it good that time had folded, because did we ever even look for it the first time?_ orders the ogres to go and search all of Sakyo's properties, never remembering that the last member of the Black-Black club had built the portal machine beneath the arena. They hadn't had to look for it last time, because Sakyo had destroyed it himself. _But not this time._

Amid the flurry of activity sparked by the massive search, dealing with the two Toguro brothers was almost trivial. While he had no qualms sending the eldest one to _The Hell_ to pay off some of his karma _,_ the younger Toguro's demand to go to the most brutal level of the underworld to repent for his deeds in life... it was nice that he didn't have to deal with the paperwork for returning Genkai to life. With a sigh as he signs Toguro's paperwork, Koenma thinks that the thing he hates most about folds in time, were the responses and situations that always managed to happen the same way no matter how much changed.


	23. Chapter 22: Interlude: She Cries Too

Chapter 22: Interlude: She Cries Too

Jīng Fēn's only purpose was to keep an eye on the pet shop across the street, and the powerful spirits that dwelled there. Because both the shopkeepers and the beings they passed off as pets were nearly extinct, information on the three D's was vital enough that it instead of going instantly to the archive data like all the others, it was directly entered into Dekuyume's mind in spite of the instanced incarnation's perpetual idle state. _Though… the youngest one with the heterochromatic eyes did seem to be contemplating doing_ _ **something**_ _with Detective Leon Orcot, not that Jīng Fēn or even Dekuyume could really understand just what._

She is sweeping the floor of the restaurant when she hears it. Slowly she comes to a stop, eyes widening as the words inside of it register. It washes over Jīng Fēn, traveling though her straight into the heart of Dekuyume. Inside the sanctity of her domain Dekuyume is brought to tears. And because Dekuyume is still in multiple places at the same time, even if they are all instanced with different time discrepancies between each so that she has enough time to keep ahead of all of the information she gathers…hundreds of people break out into tears at the same time.

Many of the incarnations recover quickly enough that no one notices, but those that Dekuyume had filled recently like an ogre in _The Spirit World_ 's records department, Ruka in the cute little night club she had found earlier that day and Beautiful Suzuki in the middle of embarrassing the hell out of some wannabe bounty hunter were not so lucky. Their connection to Dekuyume's self-awareness was too strong. The same went for those like Jīng Fēn in LA's China Town that were for one reason or another directly connected to her.

The one that had the strongest reaction however, was none other than the physical representation of Dekuyume that sat at the heart of the Higurashi Sanctuary underneath a kotatsu and a perpetually blooming Sakura tree. Catching sight of the tears rolling down her face, her family, friends and nearly everyone she had sworn to protect crowded around offering solace and succor.

The spectacle of so many people rushing to her side caused a teal haired yōkai to turn to his two sensei and ask why everyone would do so. _Because what could any mortal do, when the goddess of battlefields wept?_ The twins Hakudōshi and Shirodōshi who were oriented towards mind and energy respectively, and had offered to help the energy yōkai learn to control his own aura alternated back and forth before speaking as one. "Because, she's our mother…" " _And whenever one of us cries_ …" **"** She cries too **."**

Ultimately, there was little that any of the Higurashi could do, besides hold her as she cried. There were no enemies, no friends or family had died, there were no innocents that had been harmed and no tragedies to clean up after. There was just a song on the radio that hit a little too close to home.

Once they got the translation for the song from English, it was easy enough to see why Young-san's "I'll be good" was enough to make Dekuyume-sama cry. _The words struck just a little too close to home._


	24. Chapter 23: Interlude: Hat Tricks

Chapter 23: Interlude: Hat Tricks

Higurashi Byakuya idly twirled the magicians hat around his finger as he stepped off the stage to the cheering of the crowd. Of course, no matter how many cheers he got, there was always one brute who just didn't enjoy his show and as the yōkai stands up to start a fight… It's a simple matter of using the inebriated fool's intoxication against him, causing that little yōkai with the scythe that took over the stage after Byakuya to be much more interesting.

He slides behind the bar with ease nodding at the tentacle laden sea anemone yōkai making drinks like a fiend. She owned this establishment in the red-light district of Gandara, and the brothel/strip-club/bar was prosperous enough that even with her numerous appendages, she still needed help plying her patrons with alcohol.

The pay was fair, doing his own little show and teasing these fools with illusions was quite lucrative. What really drew him to this scene though, was a dream, though it could be more accurately labeled a nightmare. He had been having it once a year for a long time now about a girl with angry blue eyes, orange hair, and a fat yōkai who… did unspeakable things to her. If he was going to find out any information about who she was and why the dream just wouldn't let him go… the people that this joint drew was a good start. _It didn't hurt that his boss was another incarnation of Dekuyume-kaasan, Gandara was the crown jewel of Yomi's territory, and Shikon-chan was so worried about her lover boy that she had asked him to keep an eye on the rumors going around the makai._


	25. Chapter 24: Interlude: Never Done

Chapter 24: Interlude: Never Done

A beep draws her out of her internal domain and after taking a sip of her tea she smiles at her little brother who had just taken a seat at the kotatsu next to her and poured himself some of his own, "Hello Sōta." The boy grins contagiously, clearly having forgiven her for Suzuki. "Just how many people do you have following me around anyways? I caught at least three of them at the tournament, then there's the one that always follows me to school, but that one has always been there so I don't think it counts." She grins back, "If they're bothering you I can hide them, but you already said that you don't want to become a kami and leave Kaasan as the only human. So there are just some things you're going to have to let us do for you so you don't evanesce."

He waives the comment aside, "Nah. I was more curious than anything. Speaking of curiosity, what has everyone been up to? I know that tousan is working on getting kaasan registered as his consort so none of the afterlife kami mess with her when she dies, and Kagome-neechan is focusing on university." With a lopsided smile Dekuyume fingers her fan, "Welll~ at this very moment Shikon is…" Sōta cuts her off, holding his hands up in a referee call for time out in soccer. "Wait! I don't want to know that! TMI Deku-neechan. T.M.I."

She laughs and explains that Ambrosia has finally decided to recreate his deer causing Sōta to lean back in surprise and take a sip of his tea, "That's a big step. Before Naraku adsorbed him and incarnated him as Goshinki… didn't he go crazy and turn into a satori yōkai because of what some humans did to his deer?" Dekuyume nods, "Yes, and he's even let some of us near them." She smiles shaking her head, "He watches us like a great big momma bear yōkai though, I'm going to have quite the time keeping a battlefield from forming if someone so much as gives one of those deer a paper cut. But it's important, if it was easy it wouldn't be worth anything, and he would never manage to grow up."

Pouring herself more tea, she continues, "As for myself, I finally finished dealing with all of the flickering kami that have approached me for en-souling. Though, now I seem to be receiving inquiries from kami who already have souls of their own, but find that the eons that have passed since their deification have left them stagnant and resultantly desirous of reincarnating so that they can have more room in their souls to grow." With a low whistle Sōta asks, "And just how many man-hours did that take?"

With a wry smile she answers, "Somewhere on a scale of Suzumiya Haruhi's eternal summer to Kaname Madoka's quest, I think?" Sōta winces and the two enjoy the rest of the afternoon as he pulls out the homework he needs help on. _He knew that there were millions of people that would give anything to be a kami, but was it really a surprise that he didn't want to become one? The only time a Kami's work was done, was the day they stopped being one._


	26. Chapter 25: Interlude: Portals and Spell

Chapter 25: Interlude: Portals and Spells

It didn't take Sōta long to discover the new faces in the Higurashi Sanctuary. Jin was more than loud enough for himself and Toya, adding Chu to the mix was just adding insult to injury. _It was nice though, seeing Rinku playing with some of the other children, giggling as he used his yoyo's as toys for a pride of feline yōkai in their true forms._

 _It was always so interesting whenever someone new joined them, even if the questions were usually the same._ Taking back his thoughts he turns to answer another well thought out question from Toya. _It was clear that between the two of them Jin was the one who thought on his feet, but Toya was the one to go to for actual tactics._ "In spite of the vast array of power levels and species in the Higurashi Sanctuary, no we do not have any discrimination or caste system."

He nods his head over to where one of Jaken's many kappa-spawn was purchasing clothing from a teenage storm elemental yōkai many orders of magnitude stronger than he. It was easy to see from their postures alone that Sōta's words were true, then he clarified something that only highlighted the situation more. "The merchant is Sōten-chan, one of my adopted nieces, and the kappa is the 235th son of one of Sesshōmaru-san's vassals."

Sōta grins at their flabbergasted faces, "That means that the kappa is haggling with the adopted daughter of a kami who is also the mother in law of the kappa's liege lord. And since Shiori-chan, who makes the clothing and handles all of the women while Sōten-chan deals with the men, has just walked over there, it appears that she's loosing." The group of them remain in the market for a while, Sōta answering more questions while they try to wrap their minds around this strange place where nothing they have come to expect as important seems to matter.

"Everyone here is family, the reincarnation of a family member, married to someone in the family, or has been invited by one of the Higurashi. Not every soul is reincarnated inside the sanctuary, bunches of them take the opportunity to experience the outside world every so often as human or yōkai depending on where they want to see. Often times they come back with a new addition, which is why the sanctuary is so big.", is really the only explanation he can offer.

Then, Jin asked Sōta's favorite question to answer. _How do all of the yōkai handle being trapped inside the shrine with the human world just a few steps away, but unable to go due to the threat of the Spirit Detective?_ Sōta just grins. "Jin-san, you and Toya-san have been fighting together for a long time, so you should be able to sense each other even when you're suppressing your aura's, right?" Jin nods rapidly…"Och! Yeah me n' Toya were one a' the best pairs fer missions back in the makai." Cheered even further by the wind yōkai's enthusiasm Sōta asks him if he could perform a spell on him.

With Jin's agreement Sōta takes them to the exit of the sanctuary that leads to _The Little Mountain._ Sōta pulls two sutra off of the board next to the torri that delineate the exit while Jin and Toya stare at the kami who pokes his head over the side of the hill. Catching sight of Ambrosia, Sōta bows to his green haired nephew. The child kami giggles, waives back at them before turning back to watch the white deer feeding on the grass on the other side of the hill.

Sōta takes Jin's hand and wraps the sutra around each wrist, and when the last one is placed, Jin's appearance remains fundamentally the same, but all of his yōkai characteristics disappear leaving an oddly dressed red haired, blue eyed Irishman in his place.

Toya stares in surprise, and Jin jumps around making note of how much of a restriction he is under to force him into human constraints, but that he can free himself as easily as peeling off the two sutra again. Jin amuses himself by putting them back on again and taking them off and wonder out loud if he would get stronger faster if he trained with them on.

Sōta tells him that each sutra only had enough power in it to work for a week, but that constantly flexing your magic while wearing them would cause them to degrade in just a few minutes, a safety feature that Dekuyume included so that the disguise wouldn't become a deathtrap. Because if there was one thing that Dekuyume was good at, it was planning for the worst case scenario.

With a mischievous grin that would make Shippō proud of his favorite uncle he drops another bomb on them, "On a side note, there are more sutra next to the portal to the makai that do something similar when you write the name of a yōkai species on them."

"You, have an open portal to the makai."

"Yep." And pointing up at a white palace on an adjacent hill while trying not to laugh, he informs them. "It can be accessed through the portal just inside the gates to the Moon Palace on that hill over there. The portal butted up against the side of the cavern underneath it, is an access door to the original exterminator village so no one has to go to the mortal plain if they don't want to."

"Exterminator village! Wait, back up… The Moon Palace?!"

"Yep."

" _The_ Moon Palace."

"Yep."

"The residence of the Lord of the West before the divide."

"Yep."

"But that was supposed to be on the _west_ side of Japan."

"There's an excellent explanation for that. You see, _technically_ Deku-neesan is a _land_ kami, and she gives _great_ welcome to the family presents."

"That's some present."

"Yep. Just wait until it's your turn."

"What do you mean my turn?"

"Well. You're one of us now aren't you."

"Yep!..Oh… _Wow._ "


	27. Chapter 26: Interlude: Missing Her

Chapter 26: Interlude: Missing Her

Jūrōmaru was playing the koto while Jinenji tended to his garden. There wasn't any special occasion, just another afternoon where the two old friends enjoyed the peace of the garden and the stirring of the strings. "Tousan! You'll never believe who came to the shop today!" Looking up from his herbs Jinenji smiles at his mate's daughter. There was no blood between them, he being a horse hanyō and she a bat hanyō, but she treated him like her father all the same. _It left him humbled every time, because from what he understood, Tsukuyomaru-sama had been a yōkai as honorable as he was powerful._ "Welcome home Shiori-chan, and I wouldn't be so surprised, you do make the finest clothing. Don't you have your own brand on the mortal plain? Koumori Hagai?"

After carefully moving thought the plants to hug the massive hanyō she grins, "The goth-lolli look is very in with teenagers right now and it's making me _very_ rich. So why won't you and mama let me buy you a bigger place?" Laughing as his friend explains for probably the hundredth time about why he doesn't want a bigger place Juromaru continues his playing and contemplation. He is only broken from his thoughts when Shiori makes her way over to greet him. Moving the koto a little to the side, he hugs her and activates the ink-spell on his throat. "Your kaasan is inside making dinner, and no. I don't think you will have any luck trying to convince her either. Though if I were you I would save my convincing for when she asks you when you are going to bring someone home to meet them."

The silver haired woman sighs, her purple eyes impressive in their eye rolling. "I'm barely into my 5th century and already they're trying to get me settled down. I have a whole universe to explore to find myself, I'm nowhere near ready for a mate or even a husband." With a cheeky grin she twirls, her skirt flaring out beautifully, "Of course, I wouldn't complain about a hot boyfriend though? Hey Jūrōmaru-Ojisama, since you've started dating again, you wouldn't have any recommendations would you?" Shaking his head at the girl's antics he waives her off and resumes playing. "Kaasan has invited some outsiders Sōta-kun met during his tournament." Her laughter rings through the air like an accompaniment.

 _It was true. He had started dating again. It was also true that he missed Sango, but at this point in his life, he probably missed the exterminator's companionship the most. Perhaps things would have been different if she had mated with him instead of only married, but she hadn't wanted to endure watching all of her family die from old age. And… because she had felt that reincarnation was best left up to the kami that governed the process, she had refused Kaasan's offer. She was lost to him and it was time he moved on._

 _The dating scene wasn't working well for him though. But every woman (and a few men) were only interested in empty sex or had wanted more from him than he wanted to give. He was very strong yes, incredibly fast was also true… But he was a pacifist at heart, which was why he got along so well with his friend Jinenji, it was just his luck that he was attracted to strong self-assured people who weren't afraid to stand up for what they believed in._

When he sighs for a fourth time in so many minutes Jinenji asks what is wrong. Jūrōmaru stills the strings. Glancing up at his friend he asks, "How would you feel with a female for a best friend?" Jinenji sits back on his heels, eyes widening in surprise, "Oh? Have you decided to try flipping then?" Jūrōmaru simply nods in agreement. Jinenji considered the idea. _As he was only half-yōkai he was incapable of flipping his gender. It took a bit of work and was a bit dangerous as the flipping yōkai was left without access to their magic during the transition period, but no one would bother Jūrōmaru here in the sanctuary. In fact…_ "You already know that you don't have a preference when it comes to bodies. It might suit you, the unspoken social expectations of females are different than men and could very well solve the problem you're having."


	28. Chapter 27: Interlude: Waiting

Chapter 27: Interlude: Waiting

Once again, Yusuke was not a happy punk. It wasn't the training he was back to doing full time during summer vacation. _Though had it always been this long before?_ It wasn't even due to Sōta, _the dude was ok in his books now, even if he had some weird ideas about yōkai._ The problem, was that the idiot that called himself his boss had gotten kidnapped _. And instead of getting rescued by the SDF (What did that stand for again?) who were supposed to be guarding the toddler and his dad, somehow it wound up his responsibility. And fuck if the whole thing hadn't just been a fight between pacifier breath and another pint sized kami over a girl in kami elementary school._

 _Seriously?_

 _The only highlight of the whole thing had been when Sōta asked if the Golden Seal was Enma's guidepost shinki (and what the hell was that anyway?) and the cussing that the priest had done when he was told… yes. Whatever, only thing he needed to know what that whoever had the seal was the master of the spirit world._

 _He wouldn't have minded the whole thing, it was a damn good excuse to get out of more of the hags crazy training… but ever since he had passed out during the finals, every now and then he would see flashing blue lights across his vision. He would have complained about them… because they were damn distracting, but even he knew that seeing things that weren't there was bad news… and every time he saw one, it felt as if he was just waiting for the time to be right._

 _But waiting for what?_


	29. Chapter 28: Interlude: Two Foxtrot

Chapter 28: Interlude: Two Foxtrot

Shippō idly watched as Kurama de-germinated the flower he was using to disguise himself. "I'm surprised that the SDF isn't trying to kick you out. If you're presence is strong enough that even the insensitive humans can spot your yōkai traits, you have to be setting their alarms off like crazy. And it isn't like you can transform now that you're a hanyō."

Kurama grins as he stretches, ears flicking towards the other kitsune, "It's all due to the properties of the dark-dreams flower. In spite of the fact that I am technically on parole, I qualify as an employee of spirit world. According to the regulations, I am permitted in the human world so long as my power remains at or below C and I am properly disguised. Unlike those unfortunate enough to have to use the organic controllers I am in full control of the flowers and am ultimately the only one who can decide just how much it is suppressing me."

With a flick of his tail Shippō turns and runs into the trees, Kurama close behind him. The forest blurs around them and Kurama laments that there is nowhere outside of this paradise he can do this in the human world. _Not without traveling some distance away at least._ An hour passes and eventually the two of them slow as they approach the end of their circuit. Shippō laughs, "I knew that Hiei-kun would be good for you, already you've picked up speed…" Kurama grins wickedly, "That's not all I've picked up from him."

Shippō's jaw drops, "You… what! Baby?" Kurama bursts into giggles, tails flailing around him as he curls in on himself, "Inari's favor, no. Not even the dark-dreams could hide something like that and it would be very hard to explain to mother why her son is pregnant." Wiping the tears from his eyes he pulls a chord from around his neck, revealing the tricolored tear gem on the end. Shippō inhales sharply, "He gave you one of his tears." Sharp eyes narrow, "And you recognize my lover's tear stones how?"

Realizing that he had been caught, he holds up his hands in a placating manner, "When Deku-anesan dropped off Murasame she also left him a message that made him cry, never mind all the tear stones his sister left behind on the island. Someone had to pick them all up and liberate the few that had already made their way into someone's hands. The rest of you all had to get your rest for the finals." Kurama nods sharply, before reaching into his hair "And where are they now?" Lowering his hands and smiling affectionately, Shippō leans against a tree as Kurama sets the dark-dreams flowers to bloom wrapped like a bow around the base of his tails.

"Gave them back to Hiei-kun of course. Where do you think yours came from?" Kurama runs a hand through his hair in frustration, "My apologies. It has been a very long time for me, and even longer since I was in a relationship with someone who was more than just a trophy." The fire fox just smiles indulgently, "I don't doubt it."

Kurama asks Shippō if there is anyone on his mind, _at_ _least as far as other kitsune are concerned, as the highest ranked in their school, there is no vixen that would turn him down._ Shippō smiles sadly, "Your elemental yōkai may be ready for you, but mine… Sōten really only became a teenager in the last decade and now she's obsessed with pop-idols and anime characters. She's still just a little girl, playing at being a woman. She keeps brining these boys around claiming that their dating and in love, yet she has a new one a month later. It's going to be a while yet before she's ready for what I want from her."

In apologies for his earlier accusations, Kurama warns him, "As a kitsune who has become familiar with the habits of high school girls out of self preservation, I feel that I must warn you. If you aren't careful, you may very well loose her before you make your move. Without experience she may feel that her first serious boyfriend is the love of her life."

Shippō smiles crookedly, taking the appearance of Sōten's last flavor of the month boyfriend. "Just who do you think you're talking too?" The illusion fades and Kurama bows in goodbye, the other doing the same before turning and running home. Shippō does not relax until he makes it all the way back to his den. _O-Inari that had been close! I hope Hiei-kun knows what he is doing. There's just no way that Kurama isn't going to figure out what's going on!_


	30. Chapter 29: Interlude: Not that kind of

Chapter 29: Interlude: Not that kind of Doctor

Kagome was blessed and she knew it. Not only did she have a soul mate, but she had been given the opportunity to fall in love with him all over again. _It was never the same, but that was fine, because they weren't the same people._

The first time she had been a clueless girl staring at a boy with slowly opening golden eyes and dog ears. There was time travel and a quest and a wish for a cursed jewel to disappear forever. Then the two of them lived, loved and remained together until the end of time on board _The Colloquium of Souls._ But souls didn't really have many opportunities to grow on the immortal plain and as the end of forever came the jewel was freed and they had to do it all over again.

The second time she was a fully unsealed miko, trained by Naraku's reincarnation, who was also was her anesan. And it was that girl who met an Inuyasha who had been forced into a fully human form, who found inside of herself the strength to protect him the way he had protected her the first time, though she did not know it. They quested again, but with no ghosts from the past to haunt them, they came together so much faster than the first time. _As if they were long lost lovers falling in love for the second time._

She sniffles, the thought enough to bring tears to her eyes. _And now they had been given the gift of falling in love with each other a third time thanks to Deku-neechan._ The red eyed kami had adsorbed the two of them at the end of their mortal lives in the feudal era, and merged the instances of their souls once time had completed its march onwards. The day that her Kami self and the instance of Inuyasha from the second timeline had graduated from high school was the day that Dekuyume had fused all of the instances of their souls together.

In one moment Hōjō Aki and his clueless kindness had been a wholly unrecognizable reincarnation of Inuyasha who's brashness had so utterly defined him even after a forever together on the immortal plain. The next she had burst into tears and clung to him as if he was the only rock in her universe, _and even though he was silent, his tears had fallen into her hair and his arms had been so tight around her._

That was when she finally understood just why Dekuyume had said that she wouldn't wish a soul mate on anyone. _Because to have a soul mate meant that the greatest solace for you, would not, could not be found in nirvana, but in the presence of another soul shaped just for you. A soul had to be greatly troubled for the gods to sanction a soul mate, because in order to appease one soul they had to break another so the pieces would match. The gods involved would have to willingly take up a karmic debt in order to do so and it was very,_ _very_ _hard for a god to pay off a karmic debt. And to make matters worse… because souls grew and changed…_ _ **It wasn't permanent.**_

 _A single reincarnation could be all that it would take for everything to be washed away, but underneath the layer of the newest incarnation the soul would still remember having found that level of perfection._ _ **But they would never find it again.**_ That's what had been missing, when Kagome no kami had looked upon the reincarnation of Inuyasha, the edges of their souls had no longer matched. He had left her heart untouched and mourning a love she would not find again, and she had left his with a confused yearning he could not understand without memories of the past.

And then… Dekuyume had merged the pair from the third timeline with those from the second making sure that they remained soul mates, _and kami but if it didn't say everything about just how much the third reincarnation had grown. There were no words for how humbled she had been when the part of her that was a kami finally understood._

The first time had been to fulfill a promise made to her soul when it was still named Midoriko.

The second time had been to fulfill the wish that had been made on the jewel.

And the third had been because Dekuyume just wanted her imouto to be happy, and after the hell that was settling her first karmic debt, few things fazed her.

Unlike Inoue Orihime who had prayed to the kami of time travelers for five lifetimes with her beloved, there would not be a fourth time for Kagome and Inuyasha. They would have one last life together and then they would have to decide. _Either Aki would become her consort like her kaasan had become with her tousan, and never reincarnate again to preserve their soul mate bond, or they were going to do something very, very dangerous._

Dekuyume was only a land kami yes. But her domain was battlefields, and if anyone could prevent Aki from degenerating into a ayakashi upon being given his living name when being forged into a shinki, it was her. _Ironically none of the Higurashi had shinki at this point, and if they took that option Aki would be the first._

In the meantime the two of them would make the most of the time they had left, and so it was with great pleasure that she had introduced him to another time traveler. Everything ever dreamt of existed somewhere in the celestial ocean, every anime had its own dimension, and every act of fan-fiction spawned a new incarnation. _It was a good thing that everything to do with being a kami was intuitive, there were no spells to learn, or lessons to take, there was no effort involved at all. Everything, no matter how amazing it was from a human perspective, was as simple as wanting it to be so. But it scared her sometimes, because it was so easy,_ _how did kami ever learn to value anything?_

Ultimately it took little more than a desire and the two of them were talking to a time traveling doctor having exited the well's portal inside _his_ time traveling shape-shifting ship. It wasn't until after they were back on board _The Well of Time_ that Aki rubbed the back of his head and mumbled, "That was an amazing trip Kagome, but you do know he's not that kind of Doctor right?"

She giggles. _All well. It's the journey not the destination right?_

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Ryūken looks up from the Go board at his opponent after she finished telling him about her little sister's mistake, "That's ridiculous." Dekuyume shrugs and makes her next move. "She may be the kami of _The Well of Time_ and a patron of time travelers, but she goes by the mysticism route. The time lord is very much a man of science, it's why his hearts hurt him so much."

Frowning in contemplation as the clock on his wall hits midnight he queries, "And you know this how? Stalking _is_ a crime you know, I am legally required to report you." The kami remains silent for a long moment and content to wait for an answer he peruses the board more. _It was rather telling that she had remained silent instead of continuing their repartee._

It isn't until he makes his move that he looks up. He has to push his glasses up to get a good view in the dim lights of his office, but the… _pensive_ expression on her face lingers. "Dekuyume?" She turns from the window to smile at the doctor sadly, "Often times, regardless of his intentions, The Doctor… leaves powerful battlefields behind in his wake."

Changing the topic, she continues, "So how is your son doing? Still hanging around with shinigami I hope?" Glancing down at the board, she makes her next move causing the taciturn man curse under his breath. _If he was going to poke at her soft spots she was going to return the favor._


	31. Chapter 30: Interlude: Kannazuki

Chapter 30: Interlude: Kannazuki

It wasn't really her scene. But Kagome found a great deal of pleasure in going to Izumo Taisha for Kannazuki and helping the other kami set up meetings between the souls of the living during Ōkuninushi's matchmaking ceremony. So Dekuyume went, because while all of the time traveling kami irked them, Kagome was very good at upsetting the other kami with her frequent trips through time. Dekuyume could attest to the incredible amount of paperwork that those trips created, _429 alone from her short conversation with The Doctor during which yet another alien incursion occurred_. And Kagome wasn't even prone to generating battlefields, so it was easy to imagine the work load she generated for someone who governed healing, first impressions or knowledge.

Kiyoshi smiled as he left Kānēshon to stare in wonder at the shinki while he entered the ceremony, Ambrosia at her side. He had no qualms leaving his consort and grandson unguarded as they wandered around in wide eyed curiosity, not only were the shinki honorable. _Even now some of them were cooing over the boy who was both young in form and domain,_ but… _He doubted that anybody else noticed that one of them was not like the others, Deku-chan had practiced creating that particular instance right in front of him as a test subject. If she hadn't done so, he would not be able to see the minute difference that marked the difference between a shinki and whatever it was that she had created to allow another instance of herself to spy on them while they were busy with the other kami. Yes. With Deku-chan watching, there was nothing for him to worry about._

With an easy mind he entered the matchmaking chamber, _do not misunderstand he was always well pleased when he went. Of all of the prayers that he received, the ones about this ceremony were the easiest for him to grant, and while he was rapidly regaining his health now that he had a soul of his own, he was still a fairly weak kami._ _But just because he no longer had to fear flickering out of existence, didn't mean that he no longer had a duty to the souls that walked his lands. It was actually the opposite, now that he no longer had to hold back any of his strength while answering their prayers._

Dekuyume moved through the crowd gracefully, shaking her head at the antics of some of the kami. _Yaboku-san should be careful with whoever Hiyori Iki is since Kofuku-san tied their placards together._ Locating the placard for all of her children she takes a moment to consider whom each is tied. _Ambrosia, Hakudōshi and Shirodōshi were still too young for this yet, and she had done her duty to Jinenji-kun for becoming a vassal to her house centuries ago._

 _Plans were already well underway for Sōta, though it will be up to the two of them if anything comes of it. No one was crazy enough to lay a finger on anyone Shikon had tied hers to. Kagura was happily mated to Sesshōmaru-san. Shippō and Sōten were having a lovely little dance around each other and left her quite sure that his father would be happy with how he turned out after leaving him in the care of the Higurashi._

 _That just left…_ Sliding her fan into her obi she knelt and laid her fingers on Byakuya's, feeling the intensity behind the thread connecting him to his match. _Good. He was meeting her soon._ She sits back on her heels, contemplating the yōkai he was matched to. _It was true that they had little in common, and if the timing of their meeting wasn't perfect the two wouldn't find that connection that kept people coming back to each other after their first meeting. But Shikon had been adamant that if they met at the right time, the woman would be freed from her nightmare and Byakuya, her most playful son would finally have someone to ground him._

"And where is Shikon no kami? She usually comes with you does she not, Land God?" Disinterested red eyes flicker up at the kami that spoke to her. He stood over her seated form with arrogance, _a brave stance for a kami who was one only on a technicality._ Turning her eyes away from one of the six administers of rebirth of Fengdu she takes pleasure in telling him the truth. "My daughter is consort hunting on the mortal plain." "And as her mother you allow this?" Well aware of the stigma placed by many of the kami on direct influence of souls in the mortal plain, and the lack of laws against it, Dekuyume simply shrugs, "Some kami take consorts and brides all the time, others do not. It is a personal choice based on the kami's ability to feel loneliness."

To her surprise, the next statement does not come from the administrator, but from Kofuku. "Then you should just get a shinki." Knowing full well just how much the acquisition of her shinki had changed the life of the primary operator of _The Epic Bad Luck_ Dekuyume does not speak as harshly as she would have, "I have enough children as it is, I don't need to adopt anymore. As for Shikon, she has had her heart set on this particular soul since before she gained her domain."

Spotting something Kofuku moves away, and Dekuyume goes back to checking on the matches. _Now who was next, Jūrōmaru right?_ Her eyebrow raises in surprise when she recognizes the one he is tied to without laying her hands on the placard, _ah.. It appeared that Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos of The Fates were interfering again. She would leave it be, after all, it must have been an important meeting, if they had influenced her to bring the yōkai to the Higurashi Sanctuary._

Sighing she runs her fingers down the threads tying Kanna to not one, but two possibilities… that were also tied to each other. _It wasn't really something that she thought was a good idea for the void yōkai to have for her first relationship, but of all of the possibilities it had the greatest chance of resulting in bliss._ With a sigh she leaves the connections all as she finds them and rises, moving over to a few more important connections she wanted to check on. _Now that she was done dealing with the bonds formed last year, it was time to check on a few new additions._

She takes in the connections to the yōkai that had just joined the sanctuary, Shizuru… _and wouldn't you look at that. There really was a red string of fate tying Kazuma to Yukina._ With a frown she considers just how many times Shizuru had been tied to another only to be torn apart as the match was rejected for one reason or another. It was so bad that the thread had started to fray, _was it any wonder that the woman thought that she only fell in love out of a masochistic desire to get her heart trampled?_

"It's quite sad isn't it?" Says Enma as he crouches down next to her. She can only nod in response, wondering why she has the privilege of talking to the administrator aspect and not his kinder toddler soul judge aspect, "Yes Enma-san. It is" The large man says nothing, only reaches out and soothes the tattered ends. Gently, far gentler than one would expect, he weaves the shreds together again, "It happens often. Someone catches sight of all the torn ends and tries to help without taking the time to actually consider that the soul may not be capable of remaining tied to anyone anymore."

Her hand clenches tightly around her fan, "I see, so a broken soul mate knot, or more than one time as either a yōkai or a holy servant." "Yes. Some fool of a kami didn't understand why she couldn't get the knot undone and ripped the soul from its soul mate. The one who needed their soul mate failed in their task, and the soul could not be matched to anyone else. No one is willing to desecrate another soul just for a pointless match and so that soul has reincarnated over and over again with frayed edges. This is why souls should be left to the domain of the kami that oversee them. Do you understand Dekuyume of _The Eternal Battlefield?"_

She nods and watches in silence as he rises and walks away, message delivered. Dekuyume takes an eternal moment to understand that she is being warned about her actions, granting souls to derived kami, and reincarnating others. _But she knew she would come close to starting a war when she took up the challenge of saving her otousan, because if the kami who governed souls wanted him to have one… then he would have._

With a deep breath she reaches out and collects Shizuru's placard. Her eyes close as she lets her domain taste the woman's soul and take her measure not only of this life but all of her previous incarnations.

 _Because the soul could be a battlefield too…_

 _She wouldn't have been able to give him a soul against the wishes of the soul kami otherwise._


	32. Chapter 31: Interlude: I Dared

Chapter 31: Interlude: I Dared

"Deku-neechan! I can't believe that you did that! I mean I know that she's Kazuma-san's sister and you really want him to join us here in the sanctuary, but have you even spoken to her once?" Dekuyume shakes her head negatively at Kagome's rant, "I couldn't just leave her like that." Kagome's shoulders slump and Kiyoshi pats his daughter on the shoulder in commiseration. Once again it is Kānēshon that soothes them. "We're just worried about you dear, we've already seen you with bad karma before, we don't want to see it again, even if it is for a good reason. Why don't we all sit at the kotatsu and you can explain everything for those of us who weren't there to see it firsthand."

Dekuyume sighs as they reach the kotatsu and as the instance sitting at the table gets switched to her main focus, the second instance that had gone to Izumo Taisha collapses into the form of a butterfly that wanders off to Jinenji's garden. Tea appears on the table in cups decorated with Habenaria radiata. "I've already explained the warning Enma-san gave, I have no regrets and I will not stop. Free will is a universal concept and I will nether deny it to another, or refuse to exercise my own."

She meets Kagome's eyes forcefully as she finishes. "As for Shizuru. Her soul has been abused by the kami, for a purpose yes, but one that was to her detriment. When they could not reconnect her to her soul mate, they should have satisfied their honor and found her another, not washed their hands of the matter. Does this story sound familiar to you because it sounds so similar to mine it gives me chills. But… not just mine, it could have just as easily happened to you and Inuyasha." Kagome slams her hands down on the table, standing, "I get it! _I saw that too._ But I didn't want to hear it _._ " She leaves the rest of them at the kotatsu.

Dekuyume rises from her spot, moving to sit between her mother and son hugging them both, "I know you're worried, but I just couldn't **_not_** do anything." Ambrosia cuddles into her lap and her mother leans into the one armed hug from the side. "I know dear, I know. It was just so awful, that ripping noise could be heard all the way where we were standing… the sound was twice as bad when the ends fused together, though that might have been because everyone had gone so quiet."

 _Yes… They had stared, but not because I completed the soul mating kaasan._

 _They stared because everyone knew why Enma-san had visited me…_

 _and in helping that soul, I dared them to stop me._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Perhaps she would have handled her next meeting better were she not so upset with Dekuyume, but that was not the case and so when Kagome encountered Sōta and his teammates checking in after doing a few weeks of training with Genkai, she took one look at the fire and ice yōkai, before stomping over to them still dressed in her Kannazuki clothing and pointed her finger at Hiei's nose. "I blame you! If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have given Shizuru a soul mate!"

Sōta sputters as Kagome stomps away having said her peace. His head moves rapidly as he takes in Kuwabara's sudden worry for his sister, Hiei's sudden disappearance as he moves at top speed through what is supposed to be a _hidden_ entrance to the Higurashi Sanctuary, and Kurama's tense posture as tries to follow his lover inside only to be rebuffed. Kurama's stare is intense as he turns to Sōta in silent demand. Leaning against the sacred tree, Sōta sighs and begins explaining soul mates to the two middle school boys and angry kitsune and why everyone was so upset.

But all he can tell them about Hiei, is that on Kagome's 15th birthday her quest in the feudal era of Japan began, but the rest is Hiei's story to tell.


	33. Chapter 32: Interlude: Mirrors and Empty

Chapter 32: Interlude: Mirrors and Empty Spaces

 _Kanna had held no emotions once, only to have the sum of all of the emotions that a heart could feel crash upon her when she was first incarnated. Dekuyume-kaasan had given her something that she had lacked, when she had found the strength to carry her to The Void… and let her go. And ever since the day that it spat her back out the red eyed woman had been there, guiding her as she learned each emotion at her own pace and own time._ She had done such a good job that now Kanna, led by the mirror of seeking, traveled from place to place, playing mediator and emotional support to mixed species couples.

 _She was a little lonely though… Perhaps she should ask the mirror to keep an eye out for someone of her own?_

 _But… who could ever fully understand her, unless they too had been to the void and back?_


	34. Chapter 33: Interlude: Warning Signs

Chapter 33: Interlude: Warning Signs

A shadowy figure stands outside of the extra protections _The Spirit World_ had placed on _The Netherworld_ in the attempt to avoid a repeat of the last timeline wherein their competitors for the souls of the living in this dimension had managed to make a play for possession. Tightening his hand around the sword in his gasp he forces the nora-shinki to cut a hole wide enough for him to enter without crouching.

He is greeted instantly by Yakumo, the primary operator. "You dare trespass on my domain!" Holding his hands up in peace, returning the nora-shinki to its human form. "No trespassing, simply… an unsolicited trade request." Yakumo waives for him to continue, "I'm listening."

The two kami negotiate and in exchange for the magic load needed to break the protections and force _The Spirit World_ into the same chaotic state as last time, Yakumo activates his shinki Kaiki and tells the spirit to return after he is done doing a task for the other kami.

Majari watches his fellow shinki go with a frown, "I'm surprised you agreed to a deal with a kami who didn't even feel confident enough about his plan to show his face or use his own shinki." Yakumo trembles as the magic floods him and his domain tasting like soul magic, "I will not spend another eternity trapped in this place. Not when we already know the weaknesses of those that _The Spirit World_ will set against us.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kaiki does as he is told, finding no hardship in sneaking around on the mortal plain. Observing Kagome no kami utilize her domain ship was a little harder, but still within his abilities, especially because the goddess was distracted by her consort and their discussion on when to travel to next.

Watching the nora sting the kami when he tries to use the blade to attack the defenses on _The Well of Time_ and make an opening like he did to get on _The Netherworld_ was amusing. Watching the kami intentionally force the spirit into the defenses before revealing the shinki's human name was not. The soul degenerated almost instantly tearing a hole in the defenses and leveling their representational well house a ruin on the mortal plain.

As the rhino shaped ayakashi charged away shrieking and drawing the attention of the other kami that lived alarmingly nearby, Kaiki took the form of the ship's primary operator and the cloaked kami hurriedly reminded him, "You will arrive in the feudal era, there will be no one there to stop you from killing the primary operator, she was a miko once, but she's nowhere near your level. Kill the rest of the people on your list as quickly as you can and make sure to spread rumors of the Shikon no Tama as you go."

The kami then turned and fled, being chased by none other than the spirit detective that had defeated Yakumo-sama once upon a time. "Kagome-neechan! Are you ok?" Kagome smiles reassuringly at the boy, "Yeah… I think so." With a nod Sōta turns and runs after his teammates. Kaiki laughs as he turns and strolls into the shattered remains of the well house and hops into the well. _Yakumo-sama would be thrilled, the human was much weaker than he had been last time, not even the addition of a kannushi to the mix would be enough to stop them!_

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Koenma had said once that having his domain ship attacked felt as if someone had plunged their hand into his chest and started pulling out all the villa on his lungs. _She had thought he was over exaggerating, never realizing that for once in his life the toddler was understating it to avoid putting Botan-chan in any more pain._ She knew better now.

Desperately she tried to gain some power over where they were heading in time, but all she manages to do is set their arrival to a handful of minutes before whoever just trespassed. Desperately she holds onto Aki. "Aki, listen to me, we're under attack and if we're going to make it out of this mess alive, you have to do everything I say ok?"

Aki holds her tightly, knowing full well from his experience that traveling through the well should not look like this nor should it be causing Kagome pain. "Anything Kagome. You know that." She flashes a pained smile at him, "Ok now listen closely, once we get out of the time stream, we are going to have to hustle out of the well as quick as we can and get ready for a fight. Whoever this guy is, he's right behind us."

She feels the impact as they land in the bottom of the well, and together the two of them scramble out of it. Her eyes widen as she looks at all of the snow on the ground outside of the well. She had only been in that time for a few seconds, but it was so familiar to her that was all it took. _And she knew that they were safe from the intruder, but faced a far more serious problem._

Grabbing his hand she shouts, "Change of plans. Hide!" The two run over to the trees and squat down behind a particularly snow laden bush that completely blocks them from sight. Aki blushes as Kagome flips up her skirt, revealing the knife sheath around her upper thigh. Instead of reaching for the blade though, she grabs what looks like a tiny coca-cola bottle sewn into its own little pocket.

Quickly pulling the castaway bottle that Dekuyume demanded she carry around at all times just in case she had a problem with her time travels, she presses it into his hands, "I'm going inside this bottle here, stay hidden until everyone leaves, and no matter what happens, don't let me out until you're absolutely certain we're back when we belong ok?" Her eyes fill with tears of worry, "Try not to get too cold ok? You have a test next week and you don't want to get sick." He pulls her into a hug and watches as she dissolves into pink sparkles and disappears into the bottle.

Silently he tucks the bottle that had sealed all on its own into the inner folds of his jacket. Folding the cloth around himself, he vows to protect Kagome with his life. Even if he had no way to fight, he could at least keep her warm and make sure that whoever was attacking her never found her.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

There is a whoosh as the well activates again and Aki tenses, trying desperately to quiet the sound of his breathing. But it isn't necessary and it becomes clear almost instantly that whatever the trespasser had done to overcome the well's defenses in the future, they had forgotten that because they were traveling though time, they would need to do so in the past as well.

The screaming is intense and it takes everything inside of him to remain where he is. The part of him that wanted to become a doctor screamed out in denial as he refused to give aid to whoever was clearly in pain… and it broke a little when the screaming stopped and he realized that someone had literally been tortured to death and he had sat there doing nothing. His hands tightly grip the bottle holding Kagome. _No… not nothing. He had been protecting Kagome even if it didn't feel like it._

He is shaken from his agony when the well flairs for a third time.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 _Select Excerpts from "The Third Reincarnation"_

It doesn't even take three clues for them to realize they are not in the right time, again. The ice at the bottom of the well, and the yōkai bones currently being destroyed by the security system are testament enough. Kagome stomps her foot, "I don't believe this!" Beneath her foot something is crushed with a juicy squelch, "Ewww! Ew Ew Ew!" The two of them swiftly jump out, and are forced to wait while the defenses do their work, deconstructing the matter before trying again.

If there was ice in the well, there was three feet of snow outside of it, nearly hiding it from view. The other goddess just shakes her head _, it was rather amusing really_ , "It's rather ironic that the kami of time travel has such a hard time with math." Kagome no kami shouts "And what's that supposed to mean?" as she stomps over and glares up at her counterpart who conjures them a kotatsu to sit under.

The other goddess says nothing as she sits. Kagome follows, and tea appears on the table, nice and hot. Kagome takes a sip, "You're a showoff, you know that right?" The other goddess just shrugs and the table is suddenly carved in azalea and anemone. "The number of things that can be called a battlefield are countless; not so much with time travel. So while your power is infinitely deep, deep enough to drown you if you go too far in, you can still stay dry or sit at the edge and dip your feet in if you want. But my power is infinitely wide, it may only be ankle deep, but there is nowhere for me to rest or get dry. My journey is endless, as it should be."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Aki listens with wide eyes as he realizes that he is bearing witness to a very important part of Kagome's _creation_ myth. _And if it weren't for the fact that the inside of castaway bottles was another dimension, he may have lost Kagome to a convergence with her other kami self…_

Eventually the two kami finish talking, and make their way back to the well.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 _Select Excerpts from "The Third Reincarnation"_

The other goddess stands, the tea and table disappearing as if they had never been there. "I knew you could do it. After all we're here like this aren't we?" Kagome no kami grins before shouting, "Third time's the charm!" as she jumps into the glowing well. The other goddess follows slowly behind her, jumping onto the rim of the well. She gives a jaunty bow, with a fan covering her face as several humans rush onto the scene.

One runs forward, swinging a glowing sword wildly. "KAGURA! GIVE KAGOME BACK!" She has only one thought as she steps backwards into the well, his sword clearly on a path to cut the well in two. _Ah Inuyasha you fool, you never did learn any situational awareness did you?_

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Aki has to desperately suppress his shivering as he hears something he never thought he would have to hear again. Dekuyume's angry voice rings out as she summons up a miko barrier, to protect the well. "Just what is going on here!"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 _Select Excerpts from "The Third Reincarnation"_

Awoken by the hubbub, Kagome had wandered over from Ambrosia's shrine, and asked what was going on. No one had any idea, and the matter was quickly dropped. _And no one would know the thin skull and brains that Kagome no kami had crushed beneath her feet belonged to a yōkai that had managed to overcome the Well of Time's security features and was in the process of reforming… At least not for about 500 years or so…._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Hōjō Aki returned to the future with Kagome in a castaway bottle just in time to watch Dekuyume adsorb the rhino shaped ayakashi, strip away the corruption and release the soul as a butterfly before collapsing as purple splotches appeared on her skin…

"There is no such thing as good and evil. There are only people and the sum of the things they are willing to do and endure in pursuit of their goals. Good and bad are just shameful trite little words we use to explain why we're allowed to do terrible things to people, but they aren't allowed to do them back."

Miraculously the splotches start fading without any outside interference, the last of them wiped out of existence as the kami rises, red eyes blazing against the sunset with her last statement.

"That's why **Monster** is just the title we give to _someone else's_ **Hero** …"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Koenma's head hits his desk with a thump and George pats his back in commiseration. "Its not fair Gorge… It just isn't fair." The paperwork scattered all over the floor around the desk, set aloft by the temper tantrum the toddler had just thrown was very clear.

A portal to the makai has been opened somewhere on the mortal plain… But they cannot find it


	35. Chapter 34: Interlude: When Gods Fight

Chapter 34: Interlude: When Gods Fight

It was to their benefit that _The Netherworld_ made its attack against _The Spirit World_ so soon after Kannazuki. Because of Kagome's statement and Hiei's behavior, Kurama was quite upset and had trapped the elemental yōkai in a bower attempting to tease secrets and answers out… ones that Hiei was quite unwilling to give. _If he weren't aware that Koenma had placed extra protections against Yakumo this time around he would have been worried since the kami had attempted a takeover around this time. As it was he was content to play this fox-game with Kurama… even if he appeared to be losing information as rapidly as his composure._

Accordingly, this left Yusuke without his go-to guys for information and backup when Botan literally fell out of the sky and into his lap where he was skipping class on the school roof. With Botan unconscious and only demanding to be taken to someone called Dekuyume, he really only had one option, but that didn't bother him as much as it would have last year. _Sneaking out of the school carrying her was easy enough since everyone was in class, but damn if he didn't get a lot of weird looks when he carried her across town to Sōta's Shrine while Keiko ran to his high school to get him._

A man with long black hair and blue eyes appears out of thin air as Yusuke makes it to the foot of the stairs. Kiyoshi urges him onward, "This way, quickly now, you mustn't remain outside of the anti-harm barrier while the ferry girl has Yakumo-san's sealed blessed guidepost hidden in her aura." Taking a risk, Yusuke follows the man up the stairs and through a set of torri that he had never noticed before. People swiftly take Botan from him with shouts of, "Botan-san(chan)!"

He spends the rest of the afternoon sitting with Sōta and listening to a story being told by a woman who was a land kami, adsorption yōkai, miko to her time travel kami imouto and human all at the same time. _If his history class was half as interesting as this he wouldn't have been skipping the class. He wouldn't have believed it either, if it weren't for the fact that the kami had turned to a female yōkai leading around a bunch of elementary school aged kids and just as many puppies and asked her to go and get the old hag and anyone currently at the temple._

He couldn't decide what surprised him more, when Genkai showed up with Yukina,.. or when the kami looked up from hugging each one of the children she was left with and told him that they were all her grandchildren puppies included and that the woman who had left had birthed all of them. _Fuck… yōkai were weird, and he really should have believed Keiko when she said that this chick was related to the old hag with a few generations missing in between._

Kuwabara showed up soon after with his sister eyes staring around in awe like some star struck idiot. _He would have called him on it, if Shizuru hadn't been doing the same thing, making it damn obvious that the two most spiritually sensitive people he knew, were seeing something he wasn't._ Then Kuwabara and Shizuru said that they had felt like they were being called, but not like an order otherwise they wouldn't have come, but because they had felt like someone had given them an invitation to the safest place in the world…

Yusuke was left stunned again when the red eyed woman had told Kuwabara with a straight face, "You were. _The Spirit World_ has offended _The Netherworld_ and as people affiliated with Koenma-san you are in danger of being caught in the middle of a conflict between two domains. Not a good place for mortals." He had started to laugh then, only for the old hag to slap him on the back of the head as Botan walked into the room and confirmed everything she had said.

He didn't really understand most of the conversation afterwards, mostly just relieved that at least this time it wasn't his job to clean up the mess. But there was one thing that bothered him though, "Why you? What do you get out of this." The kami had fluttered her fan at him, before using it to hide most of her face. "Botan-chan is an old friend of ours, and Koenma-san a… sometimes not annoying ally. There are other reasons of course…" He catches the movement her eyes make, as they dart over to where the two Kuwabara siblings were sitting, before she catches herself and returns her attention to him. _There hadn't been anything hostile in her gaze… but it had been damn possessive… leaving him right back at square one. Kami were just as weird as yōkai. Because really? Kuwabara?_

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was easy enough, finding where Yakumo was on the mortal plain. His presence at Genkai's temple was expected, and Dekuyume was an _excellent_ trap master…

Yakumo arrived at the temple Yusuke trained at expecting to slaughter the whelp and rip his orb out of Koenma's ferry girl. He was not expecting to be met by an empty temple and a land kami. The female's black kimono is decorated with flowers he does not recognize, but ones that Dekuyume would identify as those from the Judas tree.

She taunts him, before he can even declare himself, "Now listen here whelp. This is my home. My domain, my people and my mortal kin dwell here. We open our doors, our homes and our hearts to everyone, be they refugees, for renegades, the lonely or the lost, the homeless or the homesick. We have a place, solace, serenity and serendipity for them all. This is the gift given humanity, even if we don't use it very often… That and the ability to overcome supposedly insurmountable odds, but that's another matter entirely. But you... You are not welcome here. Not with the way you behave. Leave."

 _She sealed her fate, daring to speak to a Death Kami like that._ _More so since she was foolish enough to issue such a demand while carrying around his blessed guidepost-shinki in her hands as if she was nothing more than an object._ "Know your rightful place you lowly land kami!" And then he launches himself forward. Laying his hands on the power sphere and reconnecting to his shinki after so long is unusually disorienting. But once the infinite moment passes all it takes is a simple backhand to break the other kami's neck.

 _She should be grateful that he would not lower himself to raise his hand against her next incarnation. When kami were injured enough to experience something close to death, provided it had enough power, the domain conjured the kami back into being. Without any memories of her transgression though, it would be dishonorable to bear a grudge._

Time blurs around him as he and his beloved shinki meet up with Kaiki, Majari and Raigo. It takes a few days but they easily force _The Spirit World_ to release its grip on its territory in the mortal plain. The celebration on board _The Netherworld_ when he informs all of his shinki and vassals lasts for a year on the mortal plain before they settle down and get to work. It is with great pleasure that he removes all of the power he had stored inside Reiki and released the shinki's weapon form, returning her to her human form for the first time since his battle with Enma an eon ago.

It is only as he meets the red, red eyes of the first soul he is to judge and place, that he realizes the gravity of his errors.

Dekuyume watches as Yakumo slowly comes to, gently removing her tentacles from his flesh, and releasing him from her partial adsorption. His reality had splintered around him, the power of the illusion she had trapped him in, broken by his acknowledgment of her presence. It takes him some time to shake off the after effects. He is barely cognizant as she relinquishes the adsorbed shinki, tentacles ensuring that the unconscious shinki is cradled by her kami.

Holding her tightly, Yakumo gains the strength to speak. "How dare you! How dare you use such trickery to defeat me! This was a battle between Kami and you resort to such pathetic lies to steal my magic and prove your own powerlessness!" The Higurashi she had brought with her, but kept hidden inside a barrier gather, ready to escort the weakened kami and his shinki back to his domain before helping Koenma and Enma restore order in their domain.

Dekuyume shakes her head with a disappointed smile, "Only a fool believes that illusions hold no power because they are lies. Some of the most powerful spells are the lies we tell ourselves each day. We say: I can do this, or I can't do that; and the power of the illusion makes them real. I may have created the illusion, but you were weak enough to believe it when it showed you a world you wanted to be real."


	36. Chapter 35: Interlude: Wind

Chapter 35: Interlude: Wind and the Crescent Moon

Kagura smiled indulgently at her pups. _It was adorable how their first born was leading around all of his other siblings in a game of follow the leader. Unlike when human children played, it wasn't a simple game. Not only was this helpful in teaching them to rely on each other, their sobo had taken great pleasure in wowing them as she assembled an obstacle course with thousands of tentacles, and oddly formed appendages in a period of about ten minutes._ It was challenging enough with the sutra Dekuyume had hidden, that not even adult yōkai could make it through on their own. _Though it was amusing to watch them try, only to be beaten to the finish line by a bunch of elementary school aged dai-yōkai and their unable to transform younger siblings._

Her smile softens even more as her mate shifts in his seat next to her as their youngest trips and starts whimpering plaintively. The leader of the game does what a leader should, and turns the whole trail around so that they can go and get their crying sibling, and Sesshōmaru, relaxes back into his previous position. _The dog yōkai talked a good game, but when push came to shove, he was the one that coddled the children the most. She didn't mind being the so-called mean-one, it was just too adorable whenever she found the lot of them in their true forms, curled up in a mountain of fur asleep with their exhausted tousan drooling in his sleep._

Kagura smoothes the next picture into its place in her scrapbook, making sure that the cute little paw print stickers hold the corners down firmly before adding her note. The wind blows through the trees, teasing her hair, and reminding her that it would be time to start teaching the oldest group how to fly on their chosen mediums soon. Sesshōmaru's long hair blows across her back and she smiles as he shifts closer. "Mate." She looks up from her photo collection enquiringly, "Yes Beloved?" He watches her closely, making it very clear to the wind yōkai that whatever he wanted was important to him.

"If I wanted to train the boy in the way of the sword… would it offend you?" One black eyebrow raises and the wind sorceress's red lips twitch into a smile. _Ah… so Rin's reincarnation is what he was worried about._ "You've already started teaching all of our pups that are interested, so you certainly have the experience in dealing with children. But have you considered how much frailer humans are, or the fact that the boy's sword is made out of his magic and not matter?"

Nothing more is said on the matter, even when Sesshōmaru dons sutra and heads out of the Higurashi Sanctuary, setting foot on the mortal plain for the first time since Rin's death.


	37. Chapter 36: Interlude: Onigumo

Chapter 36: Interlude: Onigumo

Koenma was at his wits end. _The portal was still open. They could tell that it was because of the constant energy shifts in the space between the dimensions where the barrier was. Their only reassurance was that all signs pointed toward the barrier remaining intact. So while countless hordes of yōkai lower in power than B could be pouring into the human world, at least nothing stronger was getting though. Yet._

He had been spanked numerous times over the matter, but Koenma and his team still couldn't tell where. There was no suspicious increase in yōkai magic anywhere within their sensors, no humans were randomly gaining psychic abilities, there wasn't anything going on in the city the portal had originally opened in either. Ambient power was leaking out of the makai and as half of _The Spirit World_ was serving as the makai… _that was really, really bad_. _He was going to get blamed for everything. He just knew it._

"George, make sure that the SDF increases strength of the protective detail following Kuwabara Kazuma. They have my authorization to loosen their seals up to high B level if they must." Koenma rubs his temples and sucks furiously at his pacifier as Gorge scurries out of the office. And Itsuki vanishes from where he had been watching between dimensions.

Itsuki finds Shinobu watching Chapter Black yet again. It was a chronicle of every atrocity humans had inflicted on their fellow human beings, and as far as Itsuki was concerned, watching the video he had nicked from _The Spirit World's_ archives once, was more than enough. He waits until Shinobu's favorite part was over, wondering just which of the alternate personalities was in control at the moment.

On the screen a bandit named Onigumo lay a burnt ruin as his raspy voice agrees to sell his body to a horde of yōkai in order to his greedy hands on the miko that was tending to him. The first yōkai touches him, and the scene changes, the bandit lost to the sands of time as the video plays.

 _Shinobu's Naru personality had told him once as they lay together after a night spent in passionate embrace, that she hoped that the reason nothing further was shown, was because there had been a happy ending, so much horror had been visited upon that man that in spite of his latter behavior, Naru still wanted him to have a happy ending. But Itsuki knew that the video only showed human crimes. Onigumo no longer qualified as human the moment the first yōkai crawled under his skin._


	38. Chapter 37 : Spirit Detective

Chapter 37 : Spirit Detective

Yusuke was pissed off. Nothing more to it than that. He couldn't even call himself a middle school punk, not since Dekuyume had convinced everyone that it was in their best interests to pull Yusuke and Kuwabara from school and take advantage of the fact that Dekuyume was still a fully qualified teacher. _Best decision ever, as a sensei she cut straight through all of the bullshit and actually made learning what he needed to pass their scheduled tests interesting._ _And_ _she made sure that he learned what he needed to, so he wasn't left looking like an idiot with his thumb up his ass, when it came to the shit someone should have taught him_ _before_ _he became Spirit Detective and had to deal with so many types of yōkai on a daily basis._

 _He wasn't going to lie, some of that shit had been way worse than anything the old hag had thrown at him, and Genkai had thrown him into a pit of_ _snakes_ _. He was even more unnerved by how often the blue streaks had ghosted across his vision, and how he would always find her watching him over the edge of a fan when they happened, as if she_ _knew_ _what he was waiting for. But she never said anything, and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask, it had only taken one question from Keiko before Dekuyume had Keiko twisted around and blushing in embarrassment as she admitted to knowing exactly what parts of that insect yōkai she had ripped off. It was both a turn on, because damn that girl took Puu's safety seriously, and a source of terror,_ _because damn that girl took Puu's safety seriously_ _._

No matter what he had been shown as proof, he had still been a little doubtful when it came to the freaky behavior Dekuyume claimed was perfectly normal for some yōkai, like kitsune and mixed gender community bathing. _But Kurama had confirmed everything that he could, and when even the kitsune was stumped about the truth of something, the crazy fox had asked to sit in on the lessons when he could._

But no matter how embarrassing that had been, _and the test she had given the two of them to figure out where they were education wise had been really fucking embarrassing when she scored them_ , it was nowhere on the same level of how fucking angry he was right this damn minute. Because no one had told him about who had been Spirit Detective before him, and Sensui had wiped the floor with him and Kuwabara at the same time. He had caught the two of them as they left the shrine for the weekend, headed off to the arcade to celebrate the crazy good scores they had gotten on their first test set, and the looks that had been on their previous teachers faces as they handed them back.

No one was going to be looking for them until Monday. when neither one of them showed up at the shrine. And as Itsuki drags Kuwabara away for his turn to be tortured by the crazy bastard's asshole personality. Yusuke coughs up blood and wonders if either one of them was going to survive that long. Neither one of them had answers for the questions that the former Spirit Detective was asking. _Sure, either one of them could take the beatings, but being forced to watch helplessly as it was being dished on the other one, was killing both of them._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

 _It had been a long time since he had seen carnage this bad. He was going to probably going to puke._ Koenma forced himself to keep going though, he owed it to the SDF that had been slaughtered. His eyes close as he stands in the center and embraces his domain, the echoes of the souls who had passed through this bloodstained stretch of concrete are made known to him, and finally, he knows just why it is that none of his people had been able to find the open portal to the makai. As he leaves the bodies to be bagged by ogres, he finds that the price they had to pay for that information was too high.

He has his attending ferry girl create a portal to the Higurashi Shrine, hoping desperately that they would not find Botan's corpse in the mess he leaves behind, because like Yusuke and Kuwabara, she was missing too.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The situation only got darker when he spoke to the kami that had taken the time to teach Yusuke and Kuwabara. Even darker than what he had expected, because while he had known that Kuwabara potentially had the ability to cut through the barrier that remained the mortal plains last defense… _He had not known that the boy was the reincarnation of a_ _ **dimensional witch.**_ _But he should have, it answered so many of his questions about just what it was in Kuwabara that had released the first seal on Yusuke's Mazoku heritage the first time, blaming it on the flavor of his magic, without ever taking the time to think about why the boy would have magic like that in the first place._

It was an angry Kagome that greeted him at the bottom of the stairs, her human consort beside her. "The barrier between your domain and the mortal plain is nothing. If anyone manages to give him a reason to, there is nothing he won't be able to cut with that sword of his. Including the thin film that separates the mortal and immortal plains. The worst part isn't the ability, it's the fact that swords are meant to cleave two things apart, not bring them back together again. Not even a trip back in time could fix something of that magnitude. Some things just can't be undone, not even by time." He was sent away soon after, his only reassurance that Sōta, Hiei and Kurama had already run off to rescue their two friends.

The sharp stinging in his pride as a kami, when he realized that instead of going to him, Botan had run to the Higurashi Shrine for help the moment Sensui had attacked the SDF, was nothing compared to how relieved that he had been when the exhausted ferry girl had timidly offered to make him a portal back to _The Spirit World._

He felt so tiny as she knelt and held him as he cried tears of relief. It hurt as she tried to convince him that everything was going to be ok, that his father couldn't possibly spank him for this. Because that wasn't why he was crying, and he wasn't going to be able to convince her otherwise, not like this. He wasn't ever going to be able to stop acting this way and creating situations that kept perpetuating his own failure.

 _It was time he grew up, not just the bit of essence he kept stealing from his Enma aspect only to give back because being an adult was too difficult. It didn't matter how dangerous it was with their impending conflict with the three kings who ruled over the makai, he would just have to choke down his pride and ask Kiyoshi-san for a favor. It would be humiliating, doing so after the Higurashi had just finished cleaning up another one of his messes, but keeping himself split into two aspects like this wasn't doing him any good. He only kept failing the people he was supposed to be taking care of, and himself._

Wiping his eyes in a manner that was perfectly in line with his physical age, Koenma pulled away. Botan is left with mixed feelings as the little kami turns and heads up the stairs of the shrine in a way that had her remembering all of the knots she had tied in time with Kagome, and that Koenma and Enma had been known singularly as Yama once.


	39. Chapter 38 : Becoming Himself

Chapter 38 : Becoming Himself

The blue had been darting across his vision almost constantly for hours now. The lights went away when it was his turn with Sensui, and he would have given almost anything for them to stay and keep him distracted. Only to return with a vengeance as he was forced to watch Kuwabara's torture yet again.

They were gathering now. His friend was so covered in blood and bruises that Yusuke couldn't even tell that Kuwabara was still wearing another of his lame headbands, even after that fucking crazy bastard had finished with that fucking water trick that always left him feeling like he was drowning.

Sensui had sent Itsuki away hours ago. The yōkai, had been using some freaky dimension yōkai to hold them captive. But had released them when he left, but it didn't matter that Itsuki had left him there on the ground in a corner of the cave with a good view of what Sensui was doing to Kuwabara. Sensui had placed a version of the spirit cuffs on him, ones better than any of the ones that Dekuyume had helped him learn to make, and Yusuke just didn't have the energy to break them.

Yusuke didn't even have the energy to hide his tears as Sensui forces Kuwabara's face into the mud that had formed when Yusuke had puked only moments before they were switched. The blue gets thicker and thicker gathering like smoke at the edges of his vision as Kuwabara lifts his head up from the mud and spits the mixture he had just been forced to eat into Sensui's face. The crazed man rapidly flips through his personalities as Kuwabara glares up at him, "I know what you're trying to do. But no matter what you try, I won't cut a hole in the barrier. I made a promise, and there's nothing you can do to make me break it. Nothing! You hear me you sick bastard!"

The blue fills his vision, blocking him from seeing whatever it was that Sensui did to Kuwabara in retaliation. And it's a relief, _because it finally feels like it's time for whatever has been building up to happen. And damn it all but it just needed to happen faster, because the sick bastard just told Kuwabara that he would find a different way then, that the two of them would die for nothing…_

"You see, I've only been using my A ranked spirit energy against the two of you. I'm also an S ranked monk, meaning that all I have to do is cloak myself in my holy energy and walk though the barrier. While Koenma has been scurrying around like the inept, lying little shit that he is, Itsuki and I have been busy gathering the strength needed to tear down the barrier in its entirety. It's really simple, you see all we have to do is stand close to each other and alternate releasing bursts of our energies at the barrier. Enough ripples and the barrier will tear itself apart, shredding and collapsing leaving the entirety of the human world defenseless. It's a bit of an irony, you see I don't need you to make hole in the barrier, I need you to make a _single_ hole in the barrier. If the whole thing comes down, it will all be over too soon, and _that's just not punishment enough."_

Yusuke pushed and pushed, urging the blue to hurry up already and do whatever the hell it was going to do. It was such a relief when it finally seemed to get the hint, even if it burned like it was blue fire in his veins instead of blood. Sensui and Kuwabara are lost to Yusuke in a haze, and finally he feels something pulse inside of him with his heartbeat.

Once.

Twice.

Thr…

Yusuke screams in pain and denial as the blue crashes against an invisible barrier inside of him, and just like the first time, his vision fades to black and he passes out from the aborted transformation.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Yama had split himself into two aspects the day that he was forced to annex a portion of his domain to serve as the makai. He had been given half as much space to place the incoming souls while they waited for reincarnation, and because there was no way to set up a time discrepancy between half of his domain and the other, that meant that he had orders of magnitude less time as well. _Any time discrepancy he setup between his domain and the mortal plain was equivalent across the entirety, and so time in the makai passed just as swiftly as it did in his palace._

It was an act of sanity preservation and desperation, pouring all of the necessary parts of himself into the aspect called Koenma, who would judge the souls that they were responsible for. Into Enma he poured everything that would be needed for the administration and protection of his domain, separating everything that remained between the two aspects equally. _He had made a mistake during the last run through, giving too much compassion to Koenma and too much practicality and ruthlessness to Enma. It ultimately led to him staging a coup against his administrative aspect ,even though his judge aspect was ill-suited to taking up the reins._

Luckily for everyone involved, he had not made that mistake a second time, and so when his Koenma aspect made his way into the throne room that held their primary operator seat Enma did little more than frown after hearing Koenma's intended plan. "Are you certain? Both of our guideposts will have to be released into their human forms while we converge, and it will take a very long time for the power they contain to be recovered. We could be attacked and defeated easily during this period of weakness."

 _It had been the basis for the rivalry between The Spirit World and The Netherworld to begin with. All three kami had possessed guidepost shinki with the ability to store the kami's power for later extraction, the competition to see just who could get the most power inside of their shinki had resulted in Yakumo's Reiki-shinki nearly perishing, only to rise as a blessed shinki. All the power that she had trouble suppressing had suddenly been easily handled, causing Yakumo to pour the entirety of his unused magic into her in surprise. Either out of jealousy or sheer ruthlessness, Enma had sealed Reiki and trapped Yakumo in the confines of his own domain during his moment of weakness._

Koenma is silent as he removes his pacifier from his mouth, holding it up to Enma for inspection. The aspect sit's back in his seat, the only manifestation of his surprise, "What have you done with all of the power that was stored inside?" Koenma's smile is bitter, "I've bowed my head and traded it for aid from the same kami that deprived Yakumo of all the power he had stored in his Reiki. For being a brand spanking new kami, she's doing such a damn good job she's making me feel like an amateur. I saw at least five bodies with her soul inside during my short walk from the entrance of the sanctuary, to where she had the strongest presence at a kotatsu under a sakura tree."

Enma frowns, because there were just so many thing suspicious about that. "I would have thought that she would be on a battlefield of some sort." Memories fill his mind as Koenma walks over and places his hand on his other aspect. Every sensation and observation he had made from the bottom of the shrine steps to the moment he had been taken onboard _The Eternal Battlefield_.

Enma's hands tremble as he vicariously experiences Koenma's feelings as he looked out of the glass dome over Dekuyume's primary operator seat. And for the first time, seen just how far her domain truly spread, even as the clouds of blood overhead thickened with the power he gifted to her and began to rain down, obscuring it all from view. _And to think… this had been in the possession of the Shikon no Kami when they were attempting to destroy her._

The large kami breaths deeply, opening his mouth to speak… but finding nothing to say. Koenma understands though, because he had been the same way, that's why he had chosen to share the memories. As Enma thinks, Koenma releases his shinki back to her human form, "Revert, Binki!" The shinki glows in his hands before coalescing into a spirit that looked even younger than Koenma. The girl stretches as if waking up from a long nap, and blinks at him in surprise.

Koenma leads his shinki to a playroom that hadn't been used in a very long time, and the spirit's eyes light up in joy, even if she doesn't make a sound. _He had heard that there were some shinki who survived, even after the god's greatest secret was revealed to them. Their desire to continue so great that not even the knowledge of their previous life and subsequent death, could destroy it. An impressive feat when every shinki was created from a soul that wanted to live so badly, none of the various agencies that ferried souls into the afterlife could detect that they had died._

 _Binki was not one of them. The soul had been murdered by her own parents because they could no longer afford another mouth to feed. And though his guidepost did not remember, the scar from that event was powerful enough that even now as a spirit, the scar across her neck prevented her from making a sound._

He finds his Enma aspect in the hallway outside of the throne room. The golden seal, that was his shinki's form, absent from his large hands. "I could not bring myself to give more power to that soul, she has too much as it is, and is making far too many enemies. I have left it in Kiyoshi-san's hands in hopes that as her father, he can temper her, and avert the war she seems intent on starting."

Koenma nods, though neither one of them have high hopes for that happening, _kami hated nothing more than trespassers._ "And Zenki? Enma waives his hand negligently as he kneels in the center of the throne room. "Released and sitting with the other." Koenma kneels as well, the two of them extending a single hand to the other. They grasp hands, and crossing their free hands over their clasped, Enma pauses, "This will hurt." Koenma laughs and cries all at the same time, "Change always hurts."

Then he reaches forward, completing the circuit between the two of them, hands clasped together in a double handshake that is meant to represent the ouroboros, and the balance of all things against the beginning and the end. They dissolve instantly into kami lights and begin the slow process of convergence while _The Spirit World_ is left open and defenseless, even the barrier that stood between the mortal plain and the makai… dormant.


	40. Chapter 39: Once More Unto the Breach

Chapter 39: Once More Unto the Breach

As anyone in a fight for their life will tell you, it either goes on way or the other, everything slowing down incredibly, giving you an eternity to decide each action you take next, or, everything seems to happen all at once. For the Spirit Detective Yusuke it was the latter, but that may have been because he woke up somewhere near the middle with an ache in his bones stronger than anything he had ever felt before... and blue filled vision that lured him like a siren with each brush of air flowing through the portal unhindered by the barrier that once blocked the path. He had only one thought in his mind. _He had to get there… even if he had to crawl._

For Kuwabara it was both, starting slowly when he spat in his torturer's face, fully expecting to die, and hoping that his senses weren't leading him wrong when they told him that the red eyed kami Sōta called anesan would save him even from death if he gave her the chance. But then it began speeding up as first Yusuke had the freakiest wobble happen in his spirit energy before passing out. The stunned expression on Sensui's face was the only reason he had stayed where he was on the ground, regaining his strength instead of trying to tackle the bastard before he could walk over to where Yusuke laid helpless.

By the time Sōta, Hiei and Kurama burst into the room looking as if they had three-manned a raid boss, and fought all of the mobs in one throw-down on the way there, everything was moving too fast for Kuwabara to keep up with. Only collapsing in exhaustion as Sōta knelt next to him and started healing his injuries.

For Sōta, there was only a ubiquitous calmness that slowed everything. Between Kagome and _The Well of time,_ Dekuyume and the power that Koenma had given her, and everyone that had come together on such a short notice in support of the plan _Sōta_ had come up with, once everything had been laid on the table; he had no doubts about their success. Even Hiei had made a comment as the portal opened, dropping them on the shore of hanging neck island where they had endured the Dark Tournament less than a year ago. "This must have been how she felt, when the well opened for the first time and she knew everything that was going to happen. All she had to do was follow the imprints of the steps she took in her memories."

The fighting had been utter chaos, dragon's, holy magic, plants, and swords dancing to the three's command as they moved through the endless hordes of C, D and E level yōkai. Much like their confrontation with the endless hordes of cultivated humans back in Maze castle, the difficulty wasn't in the strength of their opponents, but their numbers and the months that the portal had been opened had given time for legions of weak yōkai to make their way through.

They pushed onward though, they had a timetable to keep. It was worth the insane strain on their power and bodies, but they arrived in the room with the portal and the tortured forms of the two toughest humans they had ever met, just as the barrier between the worlds flickered and faded, collapsing like the tired eyes of a child kept awake long past their bedtime. Sensui's escape through the portal was quickly met with Hiei's pursuit as Sōta rapidly worked on Kuwabara, while Kurama healed Yusuke enough so that the two would be stable.

Sensui comes to a halt in the space between dimensions, the golden barrier setup by Enma had fallen for reasons he did not know or care for. But it appeared that something else had been left in its place. Thousands of people were scattered in two parallel lines from horizon to horizon, each bearing the same symbol on something they wore. He blows past the two before him as a female voice shouts from seemingly everywhere at once, "Now!" Behind him, a double layered red barrier springs to life anchored to paper sutra evenly placed along each line.

He turns quickly, hoping that killing one of them will force their barrier to collapse. Yukina's eyes widen in surprise when the powerful monk spins to attack her even though she is fully disguised as a miko with those nifty sutra at the moment. He moves faster than her eyes can follow, and her heart fills up with his anger. She is saved from certain death by Hiei who's speed almost hadn't been enough to make it though the forming barrier.

He pulls Yukina back into his chest and blocks Sensui's defensive holy armor clad fist with Murasame. Each is surprised that the other's equipment does not break with the force of the blow. Hiei darts around his sister and engages Sensui in combat as all of the Higurashi on the makai side of the barrier make their way to the other side. It becomes readily apparent that Hiei's rank as a yōkai may have been close to Sensui's in terms of his spirit, but it was far below Sensui's as a holy being.

He nearly dies when Yukina musters up the strength to shout, "You can do it Aniki! I believe in you!" He recovers quickly though, faster than he would have had he not taken Dekuyume's challenge so seriously, going to great lengths to increase his speed so that he would never have to rely on Murasame's curse. And then he ducks as the rose whip comes flying over his head with Kurama's arrival, Sōta not far behind them.

Sensui's most aggressive personality screams, "What the hell is going on! Who are you people and what is this barrier!"

His answer comes from a cocky kid who had taken harder blows than anyone his age should have to. One who was punch-drunk on the endorphins in his system now that they had no pain to suppress, even as he hobbled up to the barrier, leaning against an equally shattered Kuwabara. "Don't you know anything? They're the Higurashi and they've been doing our job protecting yōkai and humans from each other before either of us ever knew that any of this was real." Yusuke gives them all his signature smirk, even as he leans against Kuwabara. "Looks like they're better at it too. It sucks... but give it some time, you'll get use to it."


	41. Chapter 40 : Done Waiting

Chapter 40 : Done Waiting

He leaves Kuwabara at the barrier, unable to deny the blue any longer. It was is still blocking his vision, but somehow still leaving him with the knowledge of where everyone was. It only takes one breath of unfiltered makai air before he is arching his back, screaming in _ecstasy_ as the barrier that had blocked his transformation twice now disappears as if it had never been there in the first place. _It was time to give the blue what it wanted. He was done waiting._

There is a pause as the fighters watch an intense blue, the color of Yusuke's magic, fill up the entirety of his eyes as his scream trails off. He moves faster than anyone can follow, completely ignoring Sensui and running straight for the other side of the separation dimension that leads to the makai. Everyone remains still for a moment before turning and running as one after Yusuke attempting to fight Sensui on the way.

They arrive in time to witness Yusuke staring up at the makai's red sky as the third ripple of power crashes against the landscape. Hiei watches intently, keeping his red eyes on Sensui even as the Jagan keeps track of Yusuke's transformation. It was everything he had seen the first time, when Raizen possessed his descendant to kill Sensui, with one exception. _Yusuke hadn't died, his heart was still beating. Instead of the atavism awakening… Yusuke Urameshi had become a hanyō underneath the makai's red skies._

It remained to be seen, if the boy would return to a fully human form once he was again under the blue of the mortal plain's sky. _He thought that the boy might, because this had Dekuyume-neesan written all over it and whenever she took an option away from someone she always left something better, even if the obstacles to get to the same point were twice as high._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It tickled a little, feeling the magic of his descendant unfurl. The sensation was one among the many that had been besieging Raizen. The first had come when a portal to the human world was opened… and did not seem to be closing any time soon. Energy signatures from across the makai had headed towards the signal, even if the strongest remained in the strongholds of the three kings, un-tempted by a portal when they knew that they could not get through the barrier.

Then, an hour or so ago, the power of spirit world had drastically plummeted, some strange magic clearly being worked by the kami inside their palace. It had made every yōkai sensitive enough to sense the turbulence, tense and wary of an attack from Enma. They had been looking the wrong direction, because the next sensation had been the collapsing of the barrier between the worlds, and the almost immediate raising of another barrier that felt weaker and impossibly strong at the same time.

A man with holy magic had lit up the makai like magnesium in a fire with his arrival, and anyone focusing on him could sense that he had been followed by a forbidden child, a kitsune spirit hanyō, another holy being and another who was rapidly transforming. Raizen sighs as he leans back in his throne, _this could be trouble, anyone with a brain is going to be able to tell the boy is one of mine. They will most likely try to use him against me, hoping that I will be moved under the threat of danger to proof of the one night I spent with her…_

Closing his eyes he reaches out through his very being across the divide, focusing on his descendant. He ignores the impulse to possess the boy and end his fight with the monk he and his friends were fighting. He learns several important things while he observes them, the second holy being and the other two yōkai weren't just allied with his descendant, Yusuke, the four of them were making attacks and leaving openings that spoke of a deep trust. _It reminded him of when he and his friends fought long ago, when there were still yōkai that could have killed any of them if they were fighting alone. It almost made him want to seek them out and prowl around for a while before he finished withering away._

The second important thing comes from listening to the banter between the boys as they slowly wear their opponent down. _It appeared that Yusuke and the others had fought in a tournament of some sort less than a year ago against a team of demons all of at least B rank. If it was true and they had almost lost, then they had all grown incredibly fast to be keeping a 4 on one pace against a low S ranked monk._

The third comes from observing Yusuke's surroundings closer than he is. _The boy's fight was being watched by a very well disguised kami and a dimension yōkai._ It was that highly suspicious behavior that made him focus harder, wary of the fact that he can barely sense their presence and nothing about their power levels. He finds nothing, but as the holy named Sōta sets up a barrier with impressive speed and begins healing Yusuke, Raizen's senses are filled with something that made him tremble on the throne of Tourin.

His mind listens as Sōta chastises Yusuke about not being careful with his sensitivity to holy magic now that he was hanyō, and files it away under, _good advice, hopefully the boy listens and doesn't bite off more trouble than he can chew._ He breathes in and out slowly, forcing the tremors to subside. His senses filled with that bewitching something, Raizen makes his decision.

Slowly his emaciated form rose and he wondered just how much longer he still had left. _Because the only way to find out if his trembling was from hunger or just how close he was to the end of his fast, could only be answered by going to where the boy was fighting himself._

Then, sparing only a moment to let Hokushin know he was leaving the palace, he blurs into movement while the rokurokubi yōkai gapes in surprise.


	42. Chapter 41 : Not the End

Chapter 41 : Not the End

Raizen realized very quickly that if he did not want to expire on his run half way across the makai, he had to take it far slower than he really wanted. _It would be damn embarrassing to get there only to pass out at his descendants feet._ It was for the best, already he could sense Mukuro and Yomi stirring in their palaces. _It shouldn't have given him such a thrill, the fact that even though he had fallen so far in power, he was still more than enough to send upper S class yōkai into alert. They probably thought he had decided to die in combat honorably instead of from the gut aching hunger clawing at his self control. They were going to be disappointed._

His slower pace causes him to arrive just as the dimension yōkai takes the unconscious form of the S class holy the boys had been fighting. Yusuke shouts as he complains to his companions, "Dammnit! Fight of our lives and the bastard collapses from _cancer_ before we can pay him back for what he did to us! Fuck Sensui for being as sick in the head as he was in body and fuck Itsuki for dragging his carcass to the void before we could send his soul off to Koenma." The boy continues to rant while his three other companions focus intently on the perceived threat of Raizen.

 _Clearly he was going to have to work on the boys spirit sensitivity, just because an opponent wasn't leaking killing intent didn't mean they weren't going to kill you. It just meant that they could do it without feeling_. Yusuke remains with his back towards Raizen, "And who the hell are you?", even as Sōta's transient net barrier springs up around them. Raizen grins, showing all of his sharp teeth. _His descendant was a brat._ Ignoring Yusuke for now he focuses on the holy energy in the barrier, and the tired kannushi it came from.

It is the kitsune hanyō that speaks while tending to the forbidden child who had overused the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. "Yusuke, meet The Toshin, Raizen, one of the three kings of the makai. And if my senses do not deceive me, your ancestor." Raizen continues to ignore them though, staring intently at the little kannushi. _Clearly reincarnated but…It was_ _her_ _._

Comparing the transient net barrier the boy had created to the thin screen that had separated Raizen from her the night they made love, he grins as he walks closer. He shatters the barrier with his aura alone, and the four boys tense. He breathes in deeply, "Looks like my fast is finally over."

Sōta stared at the insanely powerful yōkai. _Sesshōmaru-san had once tried to explain to his pups (and all the other children who had gathered for what was clearly going to be an EPIC story time.) just how vast the difference between his power and his father, The Inu no Taisho, Toga's had been. The best he had been able to do was to compare the size of their true forms, but Sōta had still had a hard time even conceiving of that much power._ His breath is slow as he forces his muscles to relax, _he had a damn good idea how much power that was now… and it was attached to a yōkai who was_ _hungry_ _._

He glares back at the yōkai, "If you intend to eat us, even tired and banged up we won't go down easy. I'll burn you from the inside out with my holy magic." Sōta's panicked heart slows in spite of how worried he was about seeing it outside of his body soon… _because the insanely powerful yōkai was now smiling at Sōta fondly and he really hoped that didn't mean he was going to be raped before he was eaten._ Yusuke launches the first punch, but his ancestor ignores it.

Raizen waits for the tired hanyō to exhaust himself before brushing aside the boys last shaky punch. His attention fully on the kannushi who knows how outclassed he is, but stares so defiantly back. Yusuke glares up at him, preparing to mouth off no doubt, but Raizen silences him by grabbing his face. "Your ancestral mother was a gifted healer, a medicine woman who took in poison and illnesses into her body and turned her own blood into a primitive vaccine. Our paths in life were incompatible, her life had been spent saving lives, and mine, destroying them. So I left and vowed to never eat another human being until I saw her again."

His black eyes focus intently on Sōta who had slowly tensed up as Raizen had spoken. "Thank you kannushi, as the reincarnation of her soul, by appearing before me, you have brought about the end to my fast."

Yusuke is left sputtering out profanities and questions, but the story of reincarnations and meeting again is an old story to Sōta, so all he does is sigh. His staff dissipates as he releases it, walking up to Raizen causing Hiei, Kurama and Yusuke to tense, but Dekuyume to smile from her hidden position _. Sōta had been tied to the Toshin by the three fates since the day he was reincarnated. They had demanded the two meet, but had said nothing about what would happen. So she would watch and see what came of this meeting of once lovers, where one was not gay and the other no longer capable of flipping after depriving himself for so long._ Sōta holds his empty hands, out palm up to Raizen. "May I touch you?"

Raizen stares down at the suddenly fearless boy who's head doesn't even come up to his collarbone. He nods, eyes closing in relaxation even as his muscles jump and twitch at the sensation of the boy's hands, one against his tattooed cheek, the other against the center of his chest. The healing magic should have burned, coming from a holy being, but so much about magic was intent, and the boy was very gentle. _He should have been rougher, he could feel the saliva gather in his mouth at the mouthwatering scent of exertion and power so close._ The boy pulls back slowly, rocking back on his heels with a frown. "I was going to make a joke about cheeseburgers, but… You're a Mazoku."

His eyes dart backwards towards Yusuke before going back to Raizen's as the starving yōkai answers the unasked question. "Mazoku don't get anything from eating, except for a false sense of fullness. Only the flash of entropic energy given off when a human soul is separated from its body sustains us. Though the… effect is strengthened by the amount of the humans flesh we eat afterwards. Yusuke's only a hanyō, he will be just fine, eating like a human."

"And if he had experienced an atavism instead?" Raizen finally gives his attention to Yusuke's other friends. The red eyed forbidden child was back up and standing in a combat ready stance, hand prepared to draw his blade, but clearly not afraid to question a king of the makai, "Then he would have slowly starved to death if he refused to eat… properly."

Sōta sighs, before whispering Dekuyume's favorite mantra whenever she had to do or not do something that left her questioning her path. "There is no such thing as good and evil. There are only people, and the sum of the things they are willing to do and endure in pursuit of their goals. At the end of the day, _Monster,_ is just the title we give to someone else's _Hero_."

Raizen is left stunned as the boy flashes him a cheeky grin before stepping backwards and bowing to Raizen, "I'd be willing to bet money on the fact that you made the decision to stop eating humans all on your own without even asking her opinion on the matter. If my last incarnation was anything like me, you probably wouldn't have wound up nearly dead with hunger. As weird as it sounds, from kannushi to yōkai, I wish you luck in your endeavors. You will need it with the barrier the Higurashi have erected."

He turns to Yusuke, Hiei and Kurama, "Let's blow this popsicle stand, I want to talk to…" "The Higurashi?" Raizen interrupts. Sōta turns back to explain, but Raizen had really only needed to see the undamaged symbol stitched into the back of the boy's armor. "I remember them. The two miko who ended the Shikon no Tama that was riling up the low class yōkai and foolish dai-yōkai. You're wearing the fire rat fur Toga hunted down for his youngest. You are their descendant?"

Sōta laughs _, showing Raizen another expression that he wishes he had spent enough time with her, to see it on her face._ "Actually… there was a lot of time travel involved, a bit of Becoming, and a handful of deifications. The miko known as Magatsuhi's reincarnation, is Dekuyume-anesan, while the one known as Midoriko's reincarnation is my Kagome-neesan." He bows once more, "Thank you for sharing that information with me. After what you told me about my previous incarnation, it looks like I fit right in with them after all, I was beginning to wonder."

The visitors from the human realm disappear shortly after that, back through the hole they had come through. Raizen's eyes watch intently as the group walks up to the double layered red barrier. Together they place their hands on the barrier and it flairs to life. It does not reject them like he expects, instead it reaches out to them, wrapping around each before pulling them into the middle layer. The process is repeated on the second barrier causing the kitsune to growl angrily as all of the seeds from his hair are left behind in the second layer.

Sōta appears to comfort the fox, Raizen cannot hear it though, not because of the distance, but because not even sound can make it to the other side of the barrier anymore. _It was ironic, now that he was freed from his oath, humans worth eating were now further from his reach than ever. He refused to put that cultivated human trash in his mouth. But that was all right, this was not the end._

Raizen blurs into motion once more, headed towards a point equidistant from Tourin, Gandara and Alaric. He flairs his power with intent… demanding a meeting of kings. _If the Higurashi had placed the barrier between the worlds, he didn't even need to test it to know that it would withstand anything they could throw at it. The barrier casted by the two miko around the exterminator village had been tried by many once it had gone up. And not even the lord of the Eastern lands had been able to force his way through. A barrier created by the two of them after becoming kami, with the backing of an entire clan… He doubted even Enma would be able to leave if they did not give him permission to._

He sits down on a rock to wait for the other two to quit dithering and show up. Defiant eyes flash across his mind's eye as he meditates and with little surprise, he realizes that they are no longer attached to a feminine form. _No… this definitely wasn't the end. He had endured the thousands of years that had passed in the makai without consuming a single human, all while managing to retain his position as a king, even if some could argue that he was no longer the strongest. He was worthy of her now. Now he just had to convince the boy she walked the world in, of that._


	43. Chapter 42: Roaming Charges

Chapter 42: Roaming Charges

Sōta sat down heavily at the kotatsu, laden down as he was with homework. Laughing softly at his predicament she slides her otouto a cup of orange blossom tea in a cup decorated with wallflowers. He snorts at her implications but drinks it all the same. The scratching of his pen is only broken when other members of their family begin to gather and he has a rousing time explaining the events of his last mission.

He has no doubts when Sesshōmaru informs them that his father had fought on equal grounds with Raizen and that the Mazoku was the vagabond Lord of the East before the barrier went up. "He caused much talk in the Western courts with his distasteful habit of hiring himself to feudal lords desirous of having a powerful dai-yōkai on their side. Though he had not possessed a palace, so a great deal of the gossip was about where he kept his treasure. This Sesshōmaru had only stepped out of his great and terrible Chichiue's shadow when the barrier between the makai and mortal plain was raised. He did not have a chance to test himself against the Toshin." Sōta even opened his mouth to voice his lack of doubts but was left silent as Hiei appeared from seemingly nowhere and slammed his hands down on the table of the kotatsu, leaning forward and glaring daggers at Dekuyume.

"We need to talk." Kagome gaped in surprise at his audacity. _Just who was this! She knew that Hiei-kun was a Higurashi, Sōta had teased her mercilessly about it. But… she still couldn't tell_ _ **who**_ **.** _Everything got so hazy when she tried to puzzle it out, and she could have sworn that when she saw him after her blow up she had recognized him. It was almost as if another kami was blocking her, but that couldn't be right.._ _ **.**_ Then, Dekuyume rose from her seat and led him into the forests of the Higurashi Sanctuary. Kagome could only stare, _because whoever that Higurashi was… they must have been important, Deku-neesan's domain ship/placeholder hadn't even left that spot, even for Kannazuki._

Hiei's hand tightens around Murasame knowing well the futility of drawing it and using it on Dekuyume, with her nearly infinite supply of hearts, and shape shifting abilities. But it was instinct now, to grab his sword and cloak from wherever they were placed after someone had hidden his hibernating form. _He had used the dragon 4 times in that fight with Sensui, absorbing the fourth. He had paid for that with how long he had spent hibernating in Kurama's back garden._ "Why was Yukina **there**! And how the hell does she know who I am to her! I made a vow when Shigure gave me the Jagan and taught me the way of the sword! I swore on my honor that I wouldn't tell her as his price! _Damn you Ka…!"_ Hiei stops himself. Closing his eyes and breathing in sharply only to hiss the air out with his rage.

Dekuyume's black kimono slowly blooms into a garden of flowers: azalea, white camellia, daffodils and dahlia the most prominent. Her fan remains tucked in her obi, even as her fingers twitch as they long for a cup of tea. Hiei's almond shaped eyes slowly open, his lips almost grace her with a smile, but the situation reasserts itself, "Dekuyume-neesan, what possible explanation can you offer that does not leave me forsworn and dishonored?"

"She already knew." Hiei stares at her silently giving no hint to his emotional state. Dekuyume sighs, leaning against one of the many trees, "Your Jagan may have made you telepathic, but she's a natural empath. Your feelings of protectiveness and affection gave her hope, but your mother's tear stone gave her just as much proof as your tear stone around Kurama-san's neck. Your admittance, was never necessary. Whether you believe it or not, she approached Sōta and asked him why you had the same feelings for him as you do for her. He answered, and now she is Higurashi."

She smirks at his well hidden surprise, "The only thing you can whine at me about is the fact that I personally built her cottage next to the house the Kuwabara siblings have claimed." Hiei chokes "What!?" She throws her head back in a laugh, fan retrieved from her obi and everything she wears withers only to burst into scarlet color as it is taken over by red poppies. Her smirk is hidden behind her fan as she leans over to bring her eyes level with his. "I probably could have gotten Kazuma-kun with Yukina's presence alone, but if I had any chance of keeping them, I had to lure Shizuru-chan in with free rent and a how did she put it… ah yes, "A crazy effective set of barriers and dimensional partitions". Smart girl that Shizuru-chan, damn sensitive to magic too. It's easy to see why her first soul mate failed without her."

It takes Hiei some moments to come with a response to that, and Dekuyume takes advantage of his state, ruffling his hair with a fond smile. He glares at her, stepping backwards and shaking his head a few times to get it back into the correct shape. "Hn. Why would you allow that?" Easily translating that to _hands of the hair, and why would you go that far to get the soul you accepted the karmic dept for into the Higurashi Sanctuary?_

She smiles wickedly, knowing that she is going to surprise the hell out of the sealed kami, "Because Kazuma-kun was once Rin-chan, and Rin-chan was once…" Hiei completes her chain, "Ito-san, your first incarnation. The Dimensional witch… Damn. How did I not catch that the _first_ time?" He shakes his head at the irony of having been so close to the orange haired psychic, never realizing that he was family… _before a few reincarnations, if you squinted and turned your head sideways… sort of._ As always, Dekuyume has an answer, "You were a bit busy becoming friends with Mukuro-san, and desperately trying to prevent Yomi-san from stealing Kurama-kun's attention."

"Don't remind me of that goat." _He had so much trouble keeping the blind bastard from stealing the kitsune away._

"Oh, if you insist, but as long as things go well, you shouldn't have anything to worry about." _Oh she was going to have so much fun with this! Yōkai were wonderful, their courtships almost always involved battlefields. Kinky bastards._

"And why is that?" _After all of the surprises she had given him, he really shouldn't be surprised when she pulled another one out from behind that fan._

"Just make sure he is introduced to Shizuru-chan somehow." Her ruby eyes are a twin shade to his, even if the expression in them is opposite. _Humor and horror, good times. Good times._

"You didn't… Her soul-mate is Yomi!" _Dear kami of love and understanding, a word of caution: Never let Dekuyume-neesan go to another matchmaking ceremony again._

"Oh Hiei-kun, but _I did._ " _Because somehow, somewhere, someway… Yomi is alive and he is the reincarnation of a soul that died on a battlefield… because he never met his soul mate._ _It is only sheer dumb luck that it took only one small change to the goat dai-yōkai's life, to tear his soul enough to soul mate him to her again._

 _She had once said:_ **"** **Please understand, that I will do anything to protect my family, even if that means that I have to kill a child to do so."** _And now, with the premature death of Shura in Yomi's arms… she had proven it._

 _She had no regrets, even if the sight of his sightless eyes weeping for his almost-son left her feeling like a monster._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Itsuki and Shinobu were surprised when a high B level yōkai energy appeared in the void not three feet from them. In part because they were in _The Void_ and secondly because a being so far below them in power would dare approach. The void yōkai carried a mirror yōkai that gave off a most unusual light in this place that wasn't meant to have any at all. Her infinitely black eyes were wide and surprised behind the fringe of her white hair, and her voice soft as she gasped, "Oh!" She tripped to a halt, though there was no ground and looked at the two men so much stronger than she. When neither immediately jumps up to attack, she smiles timidly.

Kanna shifts her weight uneasily causing the eyes of the dying holy being to open in pain, to regard her. _His eyes told her a story, that his heart had been shattered by emotions too great for him to endure, and that his heart had most likely taken his mind with it… even if he had managed to recover._ His head remains in its position in the lap of a teal haired, golden eyed, yōkai who's magic forms invisible dimensional barriers in the void around them. _It was so peaceful, the currents of the void as they moved through them. She imagined that if she had met him on the mortal plain, his aura would feel as comfortable as kaasan's did._

She blushes, as embarrassment creeps up her spine, and she realizes that she desires to get closer to them almost as strongly as she wants a hole to open up underneath her feet. _She had been staring at them like an idiot for at least ten minutes now._

 _Oh…So this was romantic love. Kagura-chan had tried to explain when she had asked about Sesshōmaru-san and how she knew that he was the one for her. The people she had meet and helped with the seeking mirror were also good examples…_

 _but…_ looking between the two men staring at her in suspicion,

 _how was she supposed to tell which one of them it was making her feel this way?_

 _Scratch that. How was she going to explain this to kaasan?_


	44. Chapter 43: Failure to Meet Expectations

Chapter 43: Failure to Meet Expectations

Like many of the upper echelons of yōkai trapped in the makai, Yomi had sent his people to investigate the barrier the Higurashi had erected. Byakuya focuses intently on the investigators as he mixes them drinks, using the power of his illusions to entice them to speak louder. _He wouldn't want to miss anything important because he had a hard time hearing the idiots over the quiet roar of the horny crowd as the cow yōkai on the stage shook her milk jugs… all four of them._

"That is one freaky barrier." Says drunkard #1, his less drunk, but far more distracted companion responds, "Yeah, how the hell anyone ever managed to mix a demonic barrier from a blood coral, an anti-harm barrier meant for shrines, **and** a spirit energy barrier/firewall with a damn white list. Whoever they are, they're a fucking genius." The drunkard scoffs, gesticulating wildly and sloshing his drink, "They're a fucking bastard, and they were probably watching. Cuz' I swear. Every time we tested that barrier I heard some freaky laugh."

The distracted yōkai sighs, "You and that laugh, I tell you, you're the only one who was hearing it." The drunkard slams his drink down on the table, "I'm telling you I'm not crazy! The only reason you bastards couldn't hear that crazy "Ko. Ko. Ko." laugh is because I'm a vibration yōkai!"

"Actually its more, "Ku. Ku. Ku.", and generally means your fucked." The two investigators turn and stare at Byakuya as he places their refills on their table. The three stare at each other for a moment before Byakuya laughs in embarrassment, "Ha. Ha. Ha… Oopsie." He flees as the two overturn their table and lunge for him, leaving chaos behind in his wake with an illusion trap. _Kaasan always did say, that if he wasn't ever going to learn when to keep his mouth shut, he should at least always make sure he had a fool proof escape plan… or three._

He runs for quite some time, because while he may have left the investigators in the dust, Yomi's blindness had left him with the ability to hear everything that went on in his territory. While the s-class yōkai wasn't chasing him down, his general, Shachi was. But Byakuya was a slippery devil, and the aquatic yōkai had little protection against illusions. He was much stronger than Byakuya though, so while the general never came close to catching him, he was still hot on Byakuya's trail, even as they approached the Gandara border with Alaric.

Predictably, the approach of Yomi's general was sensed by Mukuro, but instead of sending one of her men to deal with the sushi, the bored Mazoku decided to attend to the matter personally. Byakuya stumbles to a halt when he is within shouting distance, he flashes her a bright smile, clearly unbothered with being surrounded by yōkai orders of magnitude more powerful than he. "Greetings Lord Mukuro, may I cross your border? I seem to have offended Lord Yomi enough to send his general after me…"

The bandaged yōkai enquires, "And how might you have done that?". Byakuya smiles charmingly, not at all ashamed to admit, "I have a tendency to speak my thoughts out loud, kaasan tried to teach me better, but my power over dreams and illusions makes it so that no one can hear me speak, if I don't want them too. Problem is I often forget to turn it on… And Lord Yomi has good ears."

Before any response reaches him, he is forced to roll out of the way as Shachi arrives on the scene, attacking instantly. Byakuya giggles, "Ah! Too slow, not quite as fast on land as water are you Shachi-san?" The aquatic yōkai gives a burbling growl, "Lord Yomi wishes to speak with you. You will come with me now!" Shachi stomps forward towards Byakuya.

"Take one step further Shachi and I will consider it an act of war. You will not survive the consequences." Shachi freezes instantly, taking in his surroundings and realizing that when Byakuya had rolled away, he had done so into Mukuro's territory. "He's your spy then. I didn't even suspect he was one of yours, your hatred of the sex-trades is well known. Having him work in Gandara's busiest whore house was a superior disguise, one I will be informing Lord Yomi of, so don't think that you can get away with it again." He draws himself up before stiffly walking away to the edge of the clearing before breaking out into a run. Byakuya rises to his feet so he can bow to the Lord, but he collapses, stricken down by his own gifts.

Mukuro shakes off the memory that always seems to overtake her when her desire to kill every sex slave trader or owner arises. _This one had been particularly potent… but the memories always were on her birthday._ Byakuya sighs, shaking his head. Embarrassed, _but not afraid she notes_ , to be caught in such a state by such a powerful yōkai he begins apologizing. "I am sorry to bring such a mess to your doorstep only to collapse like a fool your majesty. This weakness of mine always happens this time of year, but I've been so distracted by that holy being, and the barrier that has gone up between worlds that I quite lost track of time."

With quiet, deadly intent she asks, "What was your occupation in Gandara." _She would slaughter him where he stood and dump his remains in Yomi's territory if he used his magic and pretty face to lure yōkai into the sex-slave trade._ Groggily he responds, "Bar tender, and weaver of the-best-sex-you-ever-had-while-day-dreaming. That isn't what you kill people for, it's only bastards like…" He groans, rubbing his eyes as he stumbles to his feet.

Watching him tremble, she asks, "Why have you not done anything about this weakness if it leaves you so open to attack?" He smiles sadly, conjuring a paper flower, showing that while his body had failed him, his skills with magic were still sharp. "I am Byakuya of Dreams and Illusions. I'm not sick, I'm just... I've just been attached to a slave girl's dreams for a few centuries. And like clockwork, whoever that girl with the red hair is, she has these two dreams once a year somewhere in the makai. I won't tell you how crazy they drove me while I was living in the human world, with the time discrepancy between the dimensions changing at Emma's whim, I could never predict when they would happen."

He sighs, frowning, "It's sad though, as bad as the first is for her… Chikou is a sick bastard, and that acid she uses always leaves me sweating and shaking for an hour afterwards… It's always the second dream that makes me want to save her somehow." Suspicious, but well aware that the beautiful yōkai and his dark purple eyes has no clue that underneath the bandages and sutra, she was the one he had been seeking. "And why is that."

With still shaking hands, he conjures his crane and enlarges it in preparation for flight. He bows to the king, slowly so that he doesn't face plant at her feet, he answers, "It is as I said. I am Byakuya of Dreams and Illusions. I know false memories when I see them. Whoever planted them in that girl was good, but no one is better than I. Now I have taken up enough of your time your majesty, I will leave you in peace, so you can continue your patrol." He hops on his crane and soars away after that, never realizing just how much peace he would leave her with.

It takes her only moments to understand the implications of Byakuya's parting statement, but the yōkai was long gone, or simply so well hidden that she could not sense him anymore. It takes her months of meditation and delving deeply into memories she had only embraced to feed her rage in combat. It brings about a terrible clarity, as the false memories crumble, leaving her buried under memories of another rape and a hypnotist who had taken those true memories and left her with ones that prevented her from ever seeking revenge.

 _She knew now, and_ _ **nothing**_ _was going to stop her._ The rage boils beneath her skin like never before, with only a passing moment of glee as her eyes open and she remembers her meditation clearing is nearly half way between Alaric and Chikou's palace. The landscape around her is torn as she makes her way to finally get her revenge on the bastard who had raped her every year on her birthday.

The fat yōkai's blood is cold on her face and his flayed form whimpers in pain in the place he had once raped her, before she comes back to herself enough to give her men permission to enter. Idly she wonders just how long they had all been cowering outside of the room as she laughed maniacally during Chikou's torture. _She would have to thank Byakuya of the Dreams and Illusions in person. She owed the yōkai who had saved her pride that much._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Kagome stares intently at Hiei while she sweeps the shrine. The spirit detective and his friends pass by her on their way into the sanctuary. They were going to use the portal to go into the makai, some with sutra to disguise their presence, others not. Yusuke's heritage only stirred to life when he was underneath the red sky, and if he didn't want to be caught by surprise the next time he went, he had a lot of training to do. Keiko was clearly very excited with how she was chattering away, mentioning something about Puu transforming and flight. The blue eyed kami's attention was all on Hiei who simply ignored her. Her curiosity could only grow.


	45. Chapter 44: Castles and Kings

Chapter 44: Castles and Kings

Clearly, having some people disguised when they visited the makai and others not, led to some confusion, but not a whole lot of _secrecy._ On their third trip to the makai for training, the group was approached, not by Raizen, or ambassadors from Mukuro or Yomi… but by all three kings, in person. After a quick check with his otousan, _he was technically the head of the Higurashi… even if Dekuyume-neesan did all of the work,_ Sōta led the three kings into the Higurashi Sanctuary.

Sesshōmaru met them as they stepped through the portal and into the courtyard of the Moon Palace, his mate Kagura by his side. The pups were all with an instance of their Sobo at the heart of the palace, if the three kings had any ill intentions… _The closest they would get to the pups would be through Higurashi-san's adsorption._ The Lord of the West greets them with all of the formality and custom noble yōkai had expected before the barrier went up, even if Yomi is the only one who seems to appreciate his efforts. Had the three kings been less cunning they would have begun bombarding them with questions, but they were far to cunning and patient for that. So the party is mostly silent as they are led out of the Moon Palace gates and into the heart of the Higurashi Sanctuary.

Dekuyume is, as always, seated at the kotatsu, her back against the blooming sakura tree. For once, there is no tea on the table and as they approach, it rapidly changes in shape. Opposite Dekuyume, the table is just wide enough for the three kings to sit next to each other without being too uncomfortably close. _But not too comfortable, she had no intentions of making this easy for them._ The length of the table between the two sides fills with Higurashi who have something they want to say on the matter. _No doubt the three kings had intended to surprise them, but no one kept secrets from the Higurashi. Not when reincarnated members of their house were scattered across the makai and the mortal plain. The idea was laughable when you considered Dekuyume's penchant for spying._

Dekuyume's head is turned, staring off into the distance. The portal that leads to the torri at _The Sacred_ Tree flairs to life as the Spirit Detective arrives, Kurama and Sōta in tow. They find seats among the Higurashi. Just as the three kings begin to get antsy, Dekuyume smiles, waiving her hand causing tea to appear on the table, "Have a seat." Then, to the surprise of the three kings of the makai, they find themselves seated opposite _six_ kami.

Kiyoshi greets them with a slight nodding of his head, "This Kiyoshi is the land kami of _The Sacred Tree_. Seated with me is my Consort Kānēshon and our two eldest, Dekuyume, land kami of _The Eternal Battlefield_ , and Kagome, time kami of _The Well of Time._ You of course know Yama-san of _The Spirit World,_ and his spirit detective, though I don't believe that any of you have seen him in this state in quite some time. What you might not be aware of is that the kannushi seated with Yusuke-kun is my son, Sōta."

He smiles, gently reaching out and placing his hand on Ambrosia's head, "This is my grandson, Ambrosia, land kami of _The Little Mountain_." He waives his hand then at the woman seated between Dekuyume and Kagome, "And the delightful girl between Dekuyume-chan and Kagome-chan is my granddaughter, Shikon, Greater soul kami of _The Colloquium of Souls._ You are perhaps more familiar with her embryo state, The Shikon no Tama."

Dekuyume sips her tea, enjoying the afternoon and the wind blowing through the tree overhead. _It had taken quite some doing to get Shikon-chan there for this meeting. It was only under the promise that it would not interfere with her consort hunting, that her daughter had agreed._ She watches intently, ignoring the politicking and double speech as the kings try to negotiate a way for them to get through the barrier, or at the very least, resume the trafficking of humans into the makai to feed the yōkai. _She doesn't even have to say anything on the matter, the Higurashi and Yama-san and his team have more than enough material to deal with them._

She was far more interested in how Yomi's attention kept shifting to Shizuru, seated only a few spots away from him. _It wasn't obvious to anyone, but he was fighting a battle against it, creating a battlefield of his attention. It was no secret that he could keep from her._ It was also damn cute how Kurama had left a plant to watch the sacred tree gate to the mortal plain for Hiei. _Rather ineffective though…_

What gave her the most pleasure though, was the way that the three kings slowly began to realize, _as powerful as they were, both in personal ability and territory, none of them had enough power to give the Higurashi what they were demanding in exchange. Only a being who could be held responsible for every single yōkai in the makai could._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The three left shortly after that, returning to their territories in the Makai. Only Dekuyume was aware of just how close they had come to a battle in the heart of their sanctuary. Each lord was incredibly powerful, even for S ranked yōkai, and skilled in the art of war. Conversely, the Higurashi, shaped by the kami that guarded them, and the lack of a **need** for combat ability, were more philosophers and scholars. Their leanings were more towards technically difficult magic, and self control. Accordingly, only Dekuyume's nature as an adsorption yōkai (a few of her yōkai instances like Suzuki), and Sesshōmaru had reached the lofty rank of S, the others scattered through the ranks of A, B and C accordingly.

They had appeared especially vulnerable all bunched together at that kotatsu, were it not for three things. _Or that is… three kami._ _The Shikon no Tama had been the stuff of legends before the barrier, her deification had only increased her renown. She had the ability to grant any wish before her seed of eternity sprouted into The Colloquium of Souls, and she was more than adept at keeping everyone guessing at her current level of power. Though one would think that having received the title Greater Soul Kami was a bit of a give away. It was that uncertainty that had elevated Dekuyume and Kagome. Because clearly… they had defeated her so thoroughly that she called them kaasan. Knowledge of their domains of battlefields and time, was the tipping point in that little battlefield. So the three kings left them in peace… and not pieces._

Over the next few months in the makai, through trickery and subterfuge, Dekuyume's instanced incarnations led them to the path that Yusuke had once brought about… _once upon a fold in time._

 _But with a bit more logic, after all it wouldn't do to have some lazy idiot get lucky and take the throne now would it?_

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The three kings had returned to the Higurashi Sanctuary with a declaration. They were going to have a tournament to choose a King, as the party requiring they have one for trade negotiations, but ultimately unconcerned with who, the Higurashi would serve as referees. Dekuyume had accepted their list of rules, read over them quickly, smirked and announced that she would have to check with her people before she accepted on her chichiue's behalf.

She stood then, her voice ringing out across the sanctuary, evenly with no variations in loudness. "If everyone could listen for a moment, the three kings of the makai have a tournament they would like us to oversee. The following is a list of the rules they want enforced. If you agree to take part in this, please let me know afterwards."

She holds the document up, using her fan to keep the roll of paper straight. Sōta chokes, when he recognizes how similar the setup is to High School DXD. Grinning, Raizen claps the kannushi on the back. The boy blushes and asks, "How in the name of all things sacred and profane did the three of you come up with that?" Raizen teases him with a shark-like grin, "The goat may be blind, but the yōkai in his city aren't, the mummies troops are just like any other standing army and my lot may dress like monks, but they're still men… care to guess what the number 1 product smuggled from the human realm is?"

Sōta's jaw drops. "You don't really expect me to believe that yōkai bored with training to get stronger… read eechi manga…" White hair brushes across Sōta's skin as Raizen throws his head back in a deep laugh. He pouts in response, skin still slightly flushed from embarrassment, causing the Mazoku to grin, "Looks like you do too, since you know which one we got our general premise from." Sōta's blush returns with a vengeance. His head falls forward with a thump as it hits the table of the kotatsu and he presses his hot skin into it. "oh kami." Dekuyume grins at their banter. "Yes otouto?" The boy snorts, "Try again Deku-neechan, that joke got old a long time ago."

In the background, Higurashi all over the sanctuary make their decision.


	46. Chapter 45: Santa no Magical Equip

Chapter 45: Santa no Magical Equip.

Beautiful Suzuki grins as he reads the flier posted to the Notice board in Gandara's Tournament Arena.

The Tournament Rules:

Anyone may sign up for the King's-Crown Tournament, with the exception of any being of the Higurashi clan. They will be providing security and serving as referees.

Please Note:

The sign-up sheet is also an enchanted document, ensuring the defeated will follow the commands of the King, who's reign will last not more than 10 years. Signees will have the title Lord and their vassals will remain under their direct command. There will be no true death on the tournament grounds by the authority of Yama, kami and king of Spirit World, ensuring no competitor has to hold back even the meagerest fraction of their strength.

He could easily see why they had included so many things outside of a regular tournament. The preliminaries were a good way to enforce obedience from the yōkai, since the document they signed was enchanted within an inch of its parchment life by none other than Dekuyume. It also served to check if the would-be king had the ability to read and write, _or at least had someone they trusted enough to do their reading and writing for them._ The time limit before the next King's-Crown Tournament would keep those dissatisfied with the current king in check, and the ability to slaughter each other with impunity was probably the greatest temptation for some yōkai, so used to holding back to avoid killing their sparring partners. The next bit was what had sent Sōta into an embarrassed tizzy.

Whoever signs-up does so as a Lord, and to prove their claim they must have 15 yōkai agree to follow them. Each will be given a token. 8 pawns to yōkai of a maximum rank of A, 2 bishops, 2 Rooks, 2 Knights, the Queen and of course the King all with no rank maximum. The sign-up period will be from the moment the blue sun rises on the western horizon until its zenith. Yama has gifted it to all of the future Kings of the Makai and will take 8760 hours to rise.

Expecting the 8 pawns to do anything but huddle together in fear in the face of the S rank yōkai they would most likely be facing was ludicrous. _Or at least, it would have been, if each token hadn't come with a power or perk of its own._ The first battle would be a free for all, not as an act of war, but _diplomacy._

The first focus was the A ranked pawns, because Suzuki and other enchanters from across _The Spirit World,_ the makai, and even the Higurashi artisans were being given the chance to showcase their talents. They would submit gear to the Higurashi who would then dispense it to each lord in a random draw… _with a self updating list of what was given to each._ They were then given the rest of the signup period to negotiate trades between themselves, and to give their pawns enough time to get used to their new toys.

It then behooved the prospective Kings to sign up as soon as possible to make the most of their time. _He just wondered who was going to have to go repo-Joe and get all those shiny equips back after the tournament, because if anyone had as much fun as he did making them… there were going to be a lot of yōkai who wouldn't want to let go of something that put them on par with S rank yōkai._

The Tokens are Enchanted as Follows:

Pawn Enchantment: Magical gear will be randomly assigned, and the pawns given until the blue sun's zenith, to familiarize themselves with the equipment and their Kings to engage in trade negotiations.

Bishop Enchantment: Wabbajack Transformational Fantasy. (WTF) Because sometimes it's all about luck.

Castle Enchantment: Invulnerability to 1 attack per opponent (Ex An ice spike from an Ice yōkai, no matter how many thrown, but not blizzard.)

Knight Enchantment: Summon outside assistance (rank and time duration inversely proportional, total sum of 1,000,000 pwr)

King Enchantment: Seals power to A (10,000).

Queen Enchantment: Increases overall SP (by difference between King sealed/unsealed)

The preliminary round is a mock battle between two Kings at a time and only declared completed when one king is killed, or a full 24 hours have passed. Each king will have one match against the others, and their final victory/defeat ratio will be used to determine the King's position in the finals and their single elimination bracket. Please note that all time outs will counted as losses.

It really made Suzuki wonder, just how many yōkai would balk at having their power sealed as the king, and how many would vie for the position of queen, only to wind up punch-drunk on power and incapable of following the king. _Not his problem really, it was up to the kings to make sure they made the best use of their people._ He pulls his bag of goodies up higher on his shoulder before spinning on his heel and marching up to Yomi's palace with a bounce in his step and whistling, "Santa Clause is coming to town" and somehow twisting the cheerful song into something decidedly… ominous.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Once the tournament had been declared, Yomi, Mukuro and Raizen were seen with fair frequency inside the Higurashi Sanctuary. It was a waiting period for them, having signed up at the first splash of the blue sun on the western horizon, _a nod to Sesshōmaru-san's exclusion, as he was mated to a daughter of the Higurashi._ Different excuses were used each time, and all three of the kings were practiced enough, that no one was given cause for suspicion.

 _Except the kami of course, not that they had any reason for concern. They had_ _planned_ _this._

The most common excuse was a meeting with Yomi, Mukuro and Raizen about the particulars of the tournament, and their disbelief that the Higurashi could set up the grounds for it anywhere and still guarantee no collateral damage outside of the set boundaries of the combat zone. Giving a fully legitimate grin and startling those who had not been there to witness his growth, Sesshōmaru asked if anyone was interested in a free-for all spar. "While they are not used very often, the same spells that will be placed on the tournament grounds are currently in place at the sparring rings." _The lovers quarrels he had with his mate would have destroyed the sanctuary otherwise, not to mention that Higurashi-san had created the Death-Defiance barrier to inhibit the number of Higurashi who died in accidents while practicing magic._

Eager, the spirit detective, Hiei, Kurama, Kazuma and Sōta had scurried over to the quartered circle sparring ring to get the best seats. The sparring ring had four sections to cut down on the number of people who had to wait to use it, and to provide extra support at the center of the dome. Even the humans could hear the tromping of many feet as Mukuro, Raizen and Sesshōmaru and a host of other Higurashi eager to test their mettle made their way to the ring.

Yomi remains seated at the kotatsu, for all intents and purposes alone as Dekuyume's attention drifts to another instanced incarnation. He sips his tea as Shizuru slides into the spot next to him, "Last time you explained that you can hear a pin drop in Shiori-chan's tailor shop, so my question this time is, can you tell where everything is by echolocation like a bat, if so, do all of the people making noise help or hinder that, and if not, how do you not trip on anything?"

He sips his tea, as he answers the human psychic honestly. He tilts his head in her direction as he asks his question, "How many questions must we exchange before you are convinced that while my interest in you is "too good to be true", I have no intentions of breaking your heart. I am aware of its resiliency courtesy of your previous lovers. I have no desire to injure my pride with failure to do it harm." The woman laughs before taking a long drag from her cigarette, "Damn. You're certainly charming when it pleases you aren't you."

A smile graces his face as he lowers his voice an octave just to hear her heart skip a beat, "My dear, I spent a considerable amount of time as Yoko Kurama's right hand man. You have no idea just how charming I can be." The smile twists into a smirk as she drops her cigarette. She cusses, jerking backwards prepared to feel the burn as the ember hits her legs. He waits patiently for her senses to catch up to his actions. Her heart races his fingers rise, cigarette held between them. His blunt fingertips ghost across the column of her neck and caress her cheek, before tucking the butt of the cigarette into her slightly parted lips. "Now, I am quite interested in the answer to my question."

She takes a fortifying drag before breathing out a cloud of smoke, muttering "I'm pretty sure I have a good idea." _This guy was going to_ _ruin_ _her even more than all the others… she just knew it. All well, at least no one would ever be able to steal her heart and tear it into pieces afterwards… he wasn't going to leave any part of it behind._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Dekuyume had fallen back in her primary operator seat when she had reached the part of the tournament rules excluding the Higurashi from participating both as kings and pieces. Her laughter had been raucous, _for one thing she wanted to know how they intended to enforce it._ It was the second reason that had her shaking with laughter…

 _The makai Lords were going to be quite surprised, when the realized they had cut off their nose to spite their face._


	47. Chapter 46: Interlude: Stay With Me

Chapter 46: Interlude: Stay With Me

On top of getting back in contact with his old friends, Raizen, of course was quite busy getting to know his descendant and trying to get a feel for the differences between Sōta and his previous incarnation. Because the three kings had been much more effective in their agreements with Yama, he wasn't starving either, even if the magic was harvested by Yama's ferry girls and the little green beans they carried for just that purpose. _The kami hadn't been able to deny food to the Mazoku yōkai or the other handful of yōkai species that would starve without humans. It was part of the onus placed on him by the greater soul kami when his domain was annexed for the makai. But damn if Yama hadn't found the most unpalatable way to do so. They may have been able to keep a yōkai full for 10 days with each one eaten, but those senzu beans tasted like…_ _urg…_ _vegetables_ _._

He had been right when he had thought that the boys were growing in power rapidly. Yusuke was powerful enough now that he had no worries, giving the hanyō a pawn token. He couldn't decide what bothered him the most though, Enki's joke when Kokuo became his Queen, and the horned bastard made a joke about Raizen stealing her back now that she can kick his ass without trying or the fact that Seitei had been one of his A rank yōkai for a very long time and was actually a Higurashi. _He couldn't even punish the yōkai, because he was a clansman to Sōta…_

Raizen looks over his application form:

The King : The Toshin; Raizen of Tourin

The Queen: Kokuo (S+)

Knights: Kujou (S+), Natsume (S+)

Bishops: Shu (S+), Souketsu (S+)

Castles: Enki(S+), Den Hou (S+)

8 pawns (A only): Yusuke, Touou,

He had a good roster, _it was too bad that the pawns had to be A rank, Hokushin, Saizou, and Tetsuzan had failed at rock paper scissors and had spent an hour pouting about it before he had told them to cut it out and stop being babies about it or form their own set_. He would just use a few other A ranks to fill out his set. He sighs as he leans back on his throne, absently chewing on another disgusting bean, his plea to Sōta and the boys answer ringing through his mind.

"Please stay with me. Come live in Tourin. I want… to fall in love with you all over again. I'm already halfway there."

"I'm sorry Raizen-san, I am not attracted to men, only women. Intelligent, kind and gently assertive ones at that."

"Give me a chance to see where our relationship goes and I… will flip for you."

Sōta had looked at him sadly after that, speaking in a whisper that Raizen still heard over Yusuke's gagging noises, "You can't. You spent too long starved and by the time you are healthy enough to do so… I will be long dead."

His heart had broken then as he discovered the truth, _he hadn't been halfway there, he was all the way in._


	48. Chapter 47: Interlude: Old Friends, New

Chapter 47: Interlude: Old Friends, New Forms

It was on one of his many trips to the Higurashi Sanctuary without the other lords that Yomi had a chance to speak to Kurama. The kitsune is stunned, when the lord asks to borrow his eyes. _His mind had raced, thinking that his former subordinate meant to get revenge for the loss of his sight._ He hadn't, but wasn't above guilting the four tailed kitsune hanyō into filling out and reading paperwork while answering questions he wouldn't have answered otherwise.

Kurama normally wouldn't have been suckered in, but the two of them were well aware of how much attention Hiei paid the two of them and the kitsune was quite fed up with the elemental yōkai's continued refusal to answer any question about how he was related to the Higurashi.

 _The forbidden child had reason to worry, Kurama usually had better sense than to play a fox game with someone so clearly headed for a disastrous end. He would have made a play for the kitsune himself if he weren't so beguiled by the whirlwind of strength and frailty that was Shizuru Kuwabara._ He considers whether or not he could get away with using his spymaster, even though she was a Higurashi. The sea anemone yōkai was the best at fishing out information that did not reach his ears, and he had no fear of her opinion being bought. Not only did she pull a tidy sum of money from her bar in the red light district, he allowed her to eat the corpses of the criminals executed in Gandara. He would be a little more cautious in the information that she brought to him, but she was an excellent asset to his territory.

Kurama reads over Yomi's list

The King : Yomi of Gandara

The Queen: Kurama (S-)

Knights:

Bishops: Shachi (S-)

Castles:

8 pawns (A only):

There were quite a few empty places, but Kurama had no doubt that Yomi would have few problems filling them just as soon as Kurama took their measure.


	49. Chapter 48: Interlude: Higurashi Madness

Chapter 48: Interlude: Higurashi Madness

Perhaps the most surprising visitor to the Higurashi Sanctuary was Mukuro. The Mazoku hadn't been a visitor with any measure of Raizen and Yomi's frequency, at least, not until she had followed a voice into the forests around the sanctuary, "I don't know what to tell you. Chikou's palace was covered in blood, leveled, lit on fire and leveled again."

She sees Byakuya run his hand through his unbound hair while seated on a rock talking to an ice yōkai dressed like a shinobi. "How the hell am I supposed to find my red haired girl now?" The two startle as she appears. Byakuya stands to greet her, his hair and disheveled appearance magically appearing perfect. The illusion is so well crafted that it takes the hyper focus of her cybernetic lens to spot any flaws. He glances at the ice yōkai after bowing to Mukuro, "We'll settle the payment later. I know you said you didn't need one, but you're retired. You don't go philanthropic Toya-san, you're supposed to get _expensive._ " Toya does not respond beyond fading away into the forest as a gale of snow laden wind.

"It is a pleasure to see you again Lord Mukuro. You've had no further visits from Shachi I hope." She nods in agreement, "No, it appears that without you, there is no one in Gandara to burn Yomi's ears enough to sic his general on them." Byakuya laughs, before plinking himself back down on his boulder. His eyes are very bright as he leans forward conspiringly, "You flatter me, and what Lord Yomi can't hear, he does not know. I was not the only Higurashi in his territory by a long shot."

She sighs heavily, "You as well then? I've already removed Kirin from my set." Byakuya leans back in surprise, "He is your right hand yōkai isn't he?" _He knew the answer of course, but he wasn't going to tell the lord, that the makai renowned demonic arts guru was another instance of kaasan._

"You know something." He makes a small "eep" of surprise realizing that the Mazoku had moved well past closer and straight into his personal space. He goes tumbling down the back side of the boulder. He clears his throat as he rights himself, "Please don't do that." She stares at him in silence, _stronger yōkai than Byakuya had broken down into tears under the weight of her stare, she did not have to voice her question again. The answer would come tumbling out of him soon enough._

However she was mistaken, what little power the Higurashi gave up due to their peaceful lifestyle, they gained in experience. In part because the Higurashi Sanctuary was on the immortal plain and thus just as much (if not more) time had passed for its residents as had for those living in the makai, though only about 500 years had passed on the mortal plain. The rest was due to one very important thing, _unless they specifically asked, no Higurashi ever forgot their past lives, because when she reincarnated them kaasan didn't use memory vine seeds._

Byakuya leans forward, trying to peek inside her bandages to see her face, "Hello? Are you still here Lord Mukuro, or are you lost in the dreaming? She watches worry spread across his expressive face, his illusion flickering as his attention waivers. _If all Higurashi were like this, then King or no King… No one was going to get them do do anything against their will. And few who knew a single Higurashi would dare…_

 _She had watched Raizen and the boy he claimed was the reincarnation of his lover and the reason his self abuse was over. The gaunt yōkai's intentions were very clear, and yet the boy had still managed to tell Raizen no… and have Raizen declare his intent to flip. Equally clear had been the reincarnations senseless guilt as he told his suitor that he was incapable._ It hadn't stopped the yōkai from visiting the sanctuary, or subtly courting the kannushi but the powerful being was subdued all the same.

 _She had watched as Yomi fell under the same bewitching enchantment that seemed inherent to all the Higurashi._ Staring into the purple eyes of the fretting yōkai she sighs. _She was falling to the same thing, she knew it, but couldn't seem to bring herself to care._ Gently she reaches out, shattering his failing illusion as she tucks a strand of hair behind his pointed ears. He chokes in surprise, "Oh! This is embarrassing, give me a moment and I'll set myself to rights again."

"It's fine, I would rather you not wear a disguise when I remove my own. I hope you don't mind, once I broke through the hypnosis, I no longer felt the need to wear the shackles." He is left staring as he comes face to scarred, proud face with his red haired slave girl. His hand comes up covering his mouth as his eyes fill with tears. "I see my face disgusts you like it did Chikou. I would have thought you would be used to it now, after seeing it so often in your dreams." His head shakes rapidly before he lunges forward.

She does not move as he tries to pull her into a hug, only to have to move himself to reach her. "I… I'm just sorry I was so late. I had known that it was improbable, but I had hoped that I would be able to save you before that horror was visited upon you. It's what dreams and illusions are about you know, crazy improbable things we can't bring ourselves to let go of."

Slowly, her fully organic arm rises. She hesitates for a moment before gently patting him on the back, "You weren't late Byakuya of Dreams and Illusions, you were right on time." He sniffles, leaning back and blinking a few times to clear the tears out of his eyes so he can look down and see her. "You promise?" A swell of affection sweeps through her, _because really, no yōkai had any right to be that sweet,_ "I do so vow." _His timing had been perfect, her birthday rage had already been spent, leaving her feeling bored and empty before he swept in with his bright smiles and nearly unshakable good cheer._

His smile is blinding as he perks up and, grabbing her cybernetic arm, "Come! Let me show you my home! I have some paintings I did back when I was still young and foolish enough to think that scattering your picture around the Makai like missing persons posters was a good idea. Shikon-chan convinced me rather forcefully otherwise, but I kept all of them. Some of them are pretty bad though, in the beginning I couldn't draw anywhere near as well as I could craft illusions."

She willingly allows him to drag her away, bemused about how he didn't even twitch due to the scarring, or focus only on the beautiful half of her face. _There was a deeper reason though, clearly all the Higurashi were incurably mad, there was no other way to explain their behavior. Higurashi were being identified left and right across the makai and human world as they were asked to participate, Kirin, Hiei, Byakuya… so many of them were well placed for espionage that there was no way that they didn't know the danger they courted_ her nearly empty set was proof of that. _and yet… not a single one seemed to feel fear or worry about the consequences of being caught infiltrating the strongholds of the three kings of the makai._

 _That fearless way they expressed themselves was probably the most bewitching thing about the Higurashi in the end._


	50. Chapter 49: Interlude: I Can't Believe

Chapter 49: Interlude: I Can't Believe

It was a good thing that the Higurashi had been given a year to prepare for the King's-Crown Tournament. Even with 6 kami playing with time and the vast array of abilities present in the Higurashi, it was still down to the clock as they scrambled to make sure that the three major territories all had their tournament grounds up to scratch, and there were no hitches in the public broadcast system. Each territory had possessed a form of its own, and bringing all three onto the same page had been a logistical nightmare. _It was probably for the best if no one ever found out that the miles and miles of nerve-cable spread beneath the soil of the makai were crafted from Dekuyume's own intestines._

The blue sun had been interesting and a double edged sword. _Apparently, when Koenma and Enma merged back into Yama, the nature of his regalia Binki and Zenki had changed as well._ The child spirit remained his guidepost, but the other was the blue sun and was in fact spying on the entirety of the makai during the year it took to rise. _A gift to all of the future Kings of the Makai indeed._

While countless yōkai from all power levels had signed up, ultimately it was Sesshōmaru who had the last word when he announced that he was in fact not dead, but that the kami had not been able to force him from his ancestral home. _Technically true…_ and when asked about why he was not participating? "This Sesshōmaru has not walked the path of supreme conquest in a very long time."

"You gave up?"

"No. This Sesshōmaru discovered a greater path, besides his adopted daughter Rin became the bride of Oda Nobuhide and her son began the unification of Japan. You may thank Kuwabara Kazuma for Anime and Manga for he is her reincarnation." _Interestingly enough, the goofball was never mocked for his over the top enthusiasm for heroes ever again. Some yōkai even began mimicking his headbands causing Yusuke to cringe and demand they be removed from the customs barrier's white list so at least he wouldn't have to see them in the makai._

Sōta is flat on his back gasping for air, his knuckles aching like hell. Yusuke is slumped over nearby, "I can't belive that after all this time you dropped that barrier of yours and used your damn fists." Sōta huffs, "Your ancestor has proven very adept at popping them so I figured it was about time I got used to saying no with my fists just in case someone else gets the bright idea to do the same."

"Quit slacking dimwit, and Sōta kun, if you're going to change your methods you're going to do it the right way before you pick up any of Yusuke's bad habits." Yusuke laughs as Sōta realizes what he signed himself up for. "Stop laughing slacker, if you want to haul your ass up in ranking enough to be anything other than a pawn in the next tournament you're going to need my spirit wave orb and at the moment Puu is closer to being ready for it than you are."

The two boys rise up as Kazuma comes back from talking with Yukina, "You two done resting yet! It's my turn to fight the victor!"

Sōta grins as Yusuke is forced to walk over to the sidelines muttering, "I can't believe Yomi won."

Kuwabara harrumphs, throwing the first punch at Sōta, "I can't believe my anesan's dating the King of the Makai."

Sōta laughs, "Kurama's a 3 millennium old kitsune spirit, who hoodwinked treasures out of S class yōkai when he was just A rank. What I can't believe is that anyone thought they stood a chance after Kurama declared that he would be taking his position as Yomi's queen token seriously..."


	51. Chapter 50: The Last Secret He Keeps

Chapter 50: The Last Secret He Keeps

They were all at the Higurashi Sanctuary, enjoying the summer weather and the freedom of the forests when it happens. After over a year of suspicious glances, head scratching and futile guessing she had given in when the boys walked passed her as she swept the steps to the shrine. She hopped in the primary operator seat and directed _The Well of Time_ to take her to when she could figure out the secret of Hiei's identity… only to find that the ship showed her images of places she had already been as a kami.

The night that she had shouted at Hiei blaming him for Dekuyume's actions with Shizuru. _She had clearly felt as if she knew him in that moment, so what had changed?_

The time she had brought the third reincarnation to _The Colloquium of Souls_ , to drop Kanna off in _The Void and been left utterly incapable of trespassing into the domain._

And the day Dekuyume had deified. _How was it that she had forgotten that Hiei was a kami and that he had been there, giving the third reincarnation a piece of the Shikon no Tama?_

 _And why was it that no matter how many times she asked, or approaches she used, she was always shown the same thing… and left with no more idea than she had started with._ It was a furious time kami that exited _The Well of Time_ through the torri to the Higurashi Sanctuary. She stomps over to the kotatsu and throws herself into the seat next to Dekuyume. Kagome shouts, "That's It! I can't take it anymore! Who is Hiei and why can't I remember!"

Dekuyume sighs, setting down her tea. "Come now Kagome-chan, I know that you were warned along with all of the others. You have no one to blame for your memory lapse other than yourself, even if you don't remember that at the moment either." Kagome sighs, _clearly she had run afoul of a spell of Deku-neesan's._ "Can you lay it out for me, or do I have to spend the rest of eternity guessing?" Dekuyume asks what information Kagome has gathered.

The red eyed kami smiles wryly, "Well, technically you have all the pieces of information you need, but not the connections. Firstly, yes, Hiei-kun is a Higurashi and a kami, more importantly when he sealed his power I placed a geas that stole the memories of his nature from anyone who came close to revealing the secret."

She smiles gently, holding out a cup of tea to her embarrassed imouto, "I can also tell you, that when we defeated the Noh mask in the sewers, I left the fragment with Hiei-kun stating, "You know very well that there isn't a damn person in the world capable of holding on to the Shikon no Tama the way you are."" She waits patiently to see if that is enough but Kagome only continues to think hard and sip her tea.

She has only one last hint that she can give away, "Hiei-kun's speed was necessary for for my past and future selves to prevent me from experiencing a convergence, but I wasn't the only one at risk of that." Kagome gasps in surprise, "Hiei-san… Is Shikon-chan!" There is a curse behind her and she spins to see Sōta and his friends frozen, staring at her in surprise.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

BEFORE THE DIVISION:

Shikon stared after Yoko Kurama as he left. The kitsune had come sniffing around Edo just a little too late to steal the Shikon no Tama to add to his collection of things that everyone wants but only he has. He never realized that he had succeeded the moment he charmed the information out of the girl child playing next to the Bone Eater's Well.

He sparked a desire so powerful, that the new soul became a kami and then forsook its domain so that she could pursue him until the end of time. _Not that her daughter knew that at the moment…_ Dekuyume waives her fan, conjuring dahlias. The little girl frowns cutely, nose scrunched up in thought before she mutters, "Good Taste?" Dekuyume nods and after a moment of cautious silence her daughter asks, "Does that mean you like him too?"

Dekuyume shakes her head no with a small enigmatic smile, "There are very few people that I like." Shikon pouts, "Don't you want someone to love like Kagome-neechan has Inuyasha-san? What about Sesshōmaru-sama? You play Go with him whenever you meet."

"No, I don't need anyone else. I am like a battlefield, I need only two things." Shikon giggles, teasing the soul that was now her mother, her once-upon-a-time-victim, and the soul that she understood best out of the entirety of the celestial ocean, "Fresh Bodies and Magic?" Dekuyume tickles Shikon in retaliation. "What's this, one look at a furry silver ears and suddenly you're all sass and bravery. Methinks you may have to start calling Kagome-chan, kaasan too, if you're going to take after her so well."

Shikon is prone on the ground as Dekuyume speaks, "All I need are my memories and my family." Then, Dekuyume is tackled by her children in a super-glomp of affection. Shikon grins, hauling herself out of the grass eager to enjoy the sensation of touch now that she had a body of her own to do it in. "I'm glad we all made it you, me and…"

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Hiei glares, "Kaasan!" Dekuyume grins mischievously, "Now, now daughter, your kaasan was going to hurt herself trying to figure out the secret. Besides, we've gone over this before and I have no interest in watching you dither about this time. With Shippō as your niisan you know very well that you can't win a fox game if he doesn't know you're playing."

Dekuyume looks at Kagome, "The day after Yoko Kurama was declared dead, Shikon-chan asked me why I had tried so hard for so long. I didn't have much of an explanation that didn't involve feelings she did not understand, so I offered to show her. I reincarnated her as the son of a ice yōkai with a twin sister, it was the closest sensation I could get to how closely we were bound."

Hiei huffs and turns his head away from everyone as Yusuke shouts, "Wait! Let me get this straight! You mean Hiei used to be a girl!" Dekuyume raises one eyebrow, "Gender is such a simple, pointless thing to focus on over the great vastness of the soul." Dekuyume reaches out to ruffle Hiei's hair but he isn't having any of it. She just sighs before finishing her explanation to her soul daughter's other mother. "It was quite the battlefield I had to micromanage, when she used the Jagan and Byakuya his illusions to fool everyone into thinking that her feminine form was at the kotatsu during our first meeting with the three kings of the makai. I offered to incarnate her back into her previous form, but she declined so she could remain by Kurama-san's side, poor love struck little jewel."

Hiei spins and shouts, "Kaasan! Damn it that's enough!" Dekuyume looks at Kurama who has been staring at Hiei/Shikon for nearly the whole conversation, "Also… Kurama-san, Inari-san, is very interested to know if you wish to become one of his Zenko." He jerks and focuses his attention on the kami, _who was clearly much, much more dangerous than he had already assumed she was._ He shivers at the look in her eyes. "Though my daughter is a new soul, she is quite a handful and has gotten into more trouble than a litter of kits left alone for a week. So if you decide to continue to favor her with your attentions, you will not lack for amusement."

Dekuyume puts on her best protective mother face and smiles with false benign kindness, oddly pleased to be given a chance to use it. "Though, if I find you have pursued her for no reason other than curiosity, you will find out precisely how I was able to get her out of all that trouble. Do I make myself clear?" Kurama, hoping his face betrays none of his emotions, nods.

Dekuyume bows from her seated position, "Thank you" Meanwhile Hiei/Shikon has his head in his hands and Kagome has wrapped her arms around him in a hug. The sealed kami can clearly be heard muttering "Oh kami why me? This is so embarrassing." Kagome almost laughs, _but figures now would be a bad time to comment about how she sounds like such a teenager, in spite of the fact that she is over 500 years old._

Dekuyume walks over to her daughter, "You will thank me later, even if it doesn't seem so wonderful now. As for your twin sister, she is already a Higurashi, though you may want to take a moment to tell her the truth since you no longer have a reason to remain sealed." Kagome face palms, "Our family tree is going to look so strange." Dekuyume grins as she returns to her seat at the kotatsu, "That's the price of being kami I'm afraid. Nary a proper branch to be found."

Hiei/Shikon looking around at the confused humans clearly getting ready to bombard him with questions, and the kitsune he has been dancing with since the Dark Tournament, decides that he would rather come clean with Yukina and vanishes in a blur of motion. With an inward sigh, Kurama turns and starts soothing his teammates ruffled feathers. _He had to do so often because Hiei had no concept of proper human behavior…_ with a start, he realizes he had been played _. If Hiei was Shikon, who was a kami, and had been raised by two humans… then Hiei knew all along what he was doing…_ Kurama can feel his tails twitch uncontrollably as his ears swivel to point in the direction Hiei had run.

 _He was a bit miffed, that Hiei's connection to the Higurashi had been revealed. He had been enjoying unraveling the mystery and marveling that Hiei had understood the fox game he had started._

 _Truly Hiei… Shikon had played her fox game well. But of course… Kurama was better._

 _Now he just had to pick a game to prove it._

 _…_ _How far does that blush go_ _was always a good place to start._


	52. Epilogue: The Arrest of a Kami

Epilogue: The Arrest of a Kami

They were gathered in the Higurashi Sanctuary, working on their schooling and watching as Kurama drove the recently unsealed kami crazy when their peaceful lives came to an end.

It started with a roar from Shikon… "I am a Greater Soul Kami! How **dare** you trespass on my domain and raise your hand in violence towards my family!" There is a loud gong crash from the torri that leads to her domain _The Colloquium of Souls_ , she draws Murasame and dashes off at top speed into her domain ship, Kurama, Yusuke, Kazuma and Sōta not far behind her.

It was followed by the sound of thunder as the anti-harm barrier shook. It caused an earthquake-like ripple through where the immortal plain touched mortal sending the Higurashi Sanctuary into disarray.

Kiyoshi screamed in pain as perfectly healthy branches snapped and fell from _The Sacred Tree_ as the Greater kami of _The Spirit of The Forest_ decreed… (( _The Sacred Tree_ will experience eternal winter… until Dekuyume of _The Eternal Battlefield_ surrenders herself to _The Shackled Prisoner_ for transport to _The Assembly_ and a trial in _The Amphitheatre._ ))

Ambrosia's eyes narrowed in anger, the red sclera and white irises a match for the red blood on the white fur of his deer as the Greater kami _The Soul of the Mountain_ decreed. (( _The Little Mountain_ will once again be drenched in blood like rain… unless Dekuyume of _The Eternal Battlefield_ surrenders herself to _The Shackled Prisoner_ for transport to _The Assembly_ and a trial in _The Amphitheatre._ ))

Kagome gasped, clutching at her heart, collapsing into Aki's arms, as the Major kami of _The Spirit of Time_ decreed… (( _The Well of Time_ will be timeless… until Dekuyume of _The Eternal Battlefield_ surrenders herself to _The Shackled Prisoner_ for transport to _The Assembly_ and a trial in _The Amphitheatre._ ))

The kami carried their Regalia in weapon form as Dekuyume approached with much protesting from the entirety of the Higurashi clan, _because what else could she do? This had been planed too well, there were no battlefields, only the options: Surrender or Be Slaughtered._ She is wrapped in Soul-Shackles and escorted to _The Shackled Prisoner._

She has neither the desire or inclination to inform them that she is still fully capable with the bonds on, _or that they may have taken the largest instance of her prisoner, they had not taken_ _all_ _of her away from the Higurashi Sanctuary. They couldn't, her domain ship was the anchor._

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-O-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The deified third reincarnation of Magatsuhi stands at the orchestra looking up at the gathered kami in the koilon.

 _Déjà Vu much?_


End file.
